


Stand As One, Undivided

by Eternal_Phantom, Providentially_Demonic



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010), Tangled Ever After (Disney) - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Honestly-All the Fluff, New Dream (Disney: Tangled), This begins during the short Tangled Ever After, This is what happens when an idea sprouts legs and runs off with me
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-05-16
Packaged: 2021-02-28 21:08:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 29,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23263735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eternal_Phantom/pseuds/Eternal_Phantom, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Providentially_Demonic/pseuds/Providentially_Demonic
Summary: Cassandra returns to Corona after a year away for Rapunzel and Eugene's wedding. She doesn't come as a guest, but instead to keep things from going wrong, because nothing ever goes as planned for those two. Cass has come back to make sure things go smoothly for their wedding, since things tend to blow up (sometimes literally) around them. Things... do not go according to plan.
Relationships: Captain of Corona's Guard & Cassandra (Disney), Cassandra & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider (Disney), Cassandra & Rapunzel (Disney: Tangled), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider/Rapunzel
Comments: 43
Kudos: 119





	1. Back to Corona

**Author's Note:**

> (This literally came to be because of a comment Eternal_Phantom made about the reason we didn't see Cass at the wedding was because she was in the rafters. Things grew from there. I promise it'll make sense in the next chapter.)
> 
> This is obviously New dream, but I swear if you see hints of other ships, I don't mind, though that is strictly up to personal interpretation.

It had been a year since she’d seen Corona. 

Cassandra hadn’t intended to be back this soon, but a flyer spotted in Vardaros had made her hurry back as fast as Fidella could carry her. Thankfully, Fidella was in fine fettle, it was spring and there was no end of bounty for one mare. Cass herself was a little thinner, but her own skill at archery and Owl’s willing assistance had allowed her to keep herself fed. She hadn’t had to dip into the pouch of coin Rapunzel had pressed onto her before she’d left too much. 

Cassandra pulled her hood up as they reached the bridge. Best not to show her face. There were sure to be factions who had neither forgotten nor forgiven what she had done a year ago. Fidella’s ears perked up and she danced in place, whickering excitedly. She was happy to be back, at least. Cassandra gave the mare her head and she cantered across the bridge, practically prancing with her head up and tail flagged.

Chuckling softly, Cass reached down and scratched Fidella’s neck. “I know, girl. You can’t wait to see Max again.” She lowered her head, dropping her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. “Don’t you ever tell Eugene I said this but I can’t wait to see him and Raps again.”

Fidella whickered and playfully bucked in place before stretching her legs into a gallop. The closer they got to the city proper, the more signs of the festivities Cassandra could see. She grimaced playfully at a large tapestry being hung. A year and they still hadn’t gotten Eugene’s nose right. “It was _much_ more obnoxious than that,” she said aloud to Fidella.

The city looked much the same as it had looked in her youth, but here and there she could see the scars of a battle hard-fought. A wall that had the distinctive shape of a spire of black rock carved deep into it. A series of holes from the same rock punching a pattern in the wall of a house. But the scars weren’t that numerous and many had been transformed into something beautiful. Here, another set of holes had been inset with pieces of stained glass representing the sun-crest of Corona. There, a tumbled wall had been made into a terraced herb garden, the green tang of the growing things adding a distinctive scent to the air.

She could see Rapunzel's hand in all of it, every painted line and pocket of greenery. Corona’s beloved barefoot princess hard at work in restoring the damage done, a great deal of it by Cassandra’s own hand. She unconsciously clenched her hand in its custom armored glove and had to force herself to relax it when she felt the pull of the scars. It was long since healed but still bothered her in cold or wet weather. 

She passed a giant dovecote and winced at the clamor of whirring wings and coos. Yep, that was King Frederic’s addition to the festivities. His motto should have been go big or go home, she thought with a snicker. Not that the queen was much better, she thought, laughing aloud at the sight of a massive net full of floating lanterns.

In spite of everything, it felt good to be back. Wheeling Fidella, she sent the mare down a side street away from the worst of the festival preparations. She spotted a familiar wall ahead and thumped her heels into Fidella’s ribs, loosening her grip on the reins. With a gleeful whinney, Fidella launched herself into a headlong gallop toward the obstacle. Cassandra laughed with delighted abandon as the mare took the jump over the wall with ease. They landed in what had been her private training ground, a space at the back of the guard barracks. It had suffered some damage in the invasion, but still looked so familiar that she smiled, running her fingers along a battered training dummy. She swung down from the saddle and pulled her hooded cloak close around her.

After unsaddling Fidella and leaving her to crop the grass, she followed along the wall until she came to a grate. She hefted it to one side and was pleased to see the tunnel was still clear. She slipped in and pulled the grate closed behind her. Even without a light, her feet still knew every step of the way. She found the small door at the opposite end and cracked it carefully to peer through. The sight of a familiar head bent over a desk sent a pang through her. Maybe she should have come back sooner. “Hi, dad—”

Her father upset his chair, he whirled so fast. _“Cass!”_ There was delight in his face, even as tears ran down his cheeks. When his arms closed around her a little too tight to be comfortable, she laughed wetly, tears pricking at her own eyes. “I missed you, dad.”

He chuckled, that rare laugh that she had delighted in teasing out of him when she was a little girl, rumbling through where he held her pressed close to his chest. “I knew you couldn’t stay away, not from this.”

She shook her head, pushing back lightly to give herself enough room to look into his face. “Dad—”

“Rapunzel will be delighted to see you, honey.” he beamed.

“I’m not here to be seen, dad.” Cass said. 

“But—” 

She raked a lock of hair out of her eyes. “When have things ever gone smoothly for those two, dad?” she retorted. “I’m only here to make sure nothing interferes with Rapunzel’s big day, oh, and the pretty boy’s too.” She laughed softly. “I’m just here to see that they get their moment without anything going wrong.”

“Honey, you know the princess has missed you every single day. She’d want to know you were here.”

Cassandra shook her head again. "Maybe I'm not ready to be seen. I'm weak, dad, and she could so easily convince me to stay."

He sighed and released her. "Is it bad that I want her to? I miss you, honey. You know Rapunzel does. So does Eugene, even if he won't admit it."

She punched him playfully in the arm. "You've softened! I didn't think you ever would."

He scoffed. "Hardly softened. Only person I'm harder on is myself. He's learning, but he doesn't have my level of experience."

"What are you doing now? I mean you hadn't said anything about finding another position before I left."

"I'm the guard coordinator now. I schedule patrols and plan where they patrol. Not quite as glamorous as Captain, but—" he chuckled, ruffling her hair. "It's good, Cass. I promise. And he still consults with me for my experience, so—"

"But are you happy, dad?" Cassandra asked. "You took so much pride in being the captain."

"I am, sweetheart. I can still protect Corona this way. And you know there is only one thing that would make me happier."

"Dad—" she sighed, blowing a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Let me find my own destiny for a bit. Whether it's here or out there somewhere, I still have to figure out. But I promise I'll come back, even if it's only for visits."

He sagged a little. “I— I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you didn’t belong here. I kept you out of the guard out of my own selfishness. I didn’t want to see you hurt, because our first duty as guards is to protect others, even if it means putting ourselves in harm’s way.”

She blew air out her nose in a scoff. “I know, dad. And maybe I was bitter about it then, but I like to think I’ve grown a bit.”

He measured a space above her head with his hand. “Maybe just a _teeny_ bit.”

Cassandra elbowed him. “Not again with the short jokes!” But she was smiling.

He laughed. “You set yourself up for that one, sweetheart.” Still smiling at her, he settled himself back into his chair. “Tell me what you need.”

“Where’s the ceremony being held?” 

“The Grand Chapel. You know King Frederic would accept nothing less.”

“Urgh, that makes it harder. Too many entrances and far too many places for trouble to hide.”

He shot her a reproving look. “Trust me on knowing where to station people. I’ve got guards on every entrance and regular sweeps through the chapel up until the ceremony.” 

“And you know if someone is determined enough, that’s not going to stop them." Cassandra leaned against the wall. "Here's your measure. Could Eugene; in his bad old days as Flynn Rider, break in? If the answer is yes, or any variation of probably, possibly, or even maybe, you need to tighten security."

Her father blew a long breath out, his eyes full of fondness. "Only you, Cass. Only you could think along those lines. Will doubling the guard be enough? Or should I institute more patrols too?"

"Some of both, dad. Put more guards on the obvious entrances, and more patrols and guards inside, covering the less-obvious ones. Hey, didn't Fitzherbert say something about promoting Varian to a royal alchemist before I left?"

Her father nodded. “Royal Engineer is the princess’s chosen title. He has a lab built out of the old secret chamber under the Vault. He's probably there right now..." His voice lilted a little on the end, making it almost a question.

"Stop trying to make me see people who'll go out of their way to convince me to stay, dad. Have him make up some of his old pest traps, portable ones that the guards can all carry and set one each on several of the most likely entrance points. Give him a blueprint of the chapel and he'll outdo himself with traps."

"Cassandra, you do realize there will be guests at the wedding?" He reminded her with no little humor in his voice. "I dare say some of them will wander about before the ceremony itself."

She smirked back. "Think they'll try to cause an incident because their shoes were glued to the floor? I'd look to anyone who does as a prime suspect." She muffled a snort of laughter into one glove. "I know Raps invited the pub thugs. Those guys would take it as a challenge if they got caught in one of the kid's traps."

He stood and ruffled her hair. "Sweetie, I sometimes forget how ruthless you can be." Reaching into a drawer of his desk, he pulled out a plan of the Grand Chapel and unrolled it over the top of the desk. "I have men stationed here, here, here and—"

Cass joined him at the table, leaning her shoulder into his as she traced lines and moved markers to stand for guards. It felt familiar and like home. She pushed the thought aside in favor of the plans. She had a job to do, after all.


	2. Out of the Rafters

Cassandra hummed softly to herself as she dressed in her old room. Other than repairing the damages she had done with the black rocks in a fit of rage, the room remained almost exactly as she left it. Her clothes in the chest, her weapons in the now-rebuilt wardrobe, her collection of oddments on the shelves. Everything all neat and tidy, waiting for her to come back. How very like Rapunzel.

She paused and caressed the edge of a frame. This was  _ new _ . It was not the painting she had taken with her, but another, depicting the three of them, her, Raps and Eugene. Eugene wore his captain's uniform and Rapunzel the purple and lavender day dress she favored, her short brown hair loose around her face. Cassandra wore neither her dress as Rapunzel's lady-in-waiting nor her well-worn travel leathers, but the green leathers she had worn when she had left Corona. It had to have been painted after she left.

She had to pause and scrub at watering eyes. Her throat felt thick.  _ Raps. _ She never gave up on her, not ever, even at her worst.

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She would make sure today was one of the best of Rapunzel's life, even if she had to stay in the shadows to do it. 

She eased out of her room and padded down the corridor, soft-soled boots silent on the stone floors. Her gray and charcoal clothes blended into the shadows and allowed her to slip past Friedborg. She wasn't entirely sure if Friedborg had seen her, but to be honest, she was never sure of what world the other lady-in-waiting saw at any given time.

From there she easily slipped into the chapel, nodding a greeting to the guard stationed at the small doorway. He'd known to expect her. Under his bemused eyes, she swarmed up an intricate carving, swinging herself up into the rafters. It felt good to move like this, bringing back memories of training herself on whatever obstacles she could beg, steal, or borrow. She ran lightly over the rafters, her body remembering how to move gracefully with hardly a misstep. 

She found a good vantage point, with a clear view of the entire hall. She had to grin at the sight of Hook-hand setting himself up at the organ.  _ Figures. _

She could see several people she knew already taking seats. There was a large group of Rapunel and Eugene’s reformed thugs from the Snuggly Duckling. Attila must have still been in the kitchens, supervising the final touches on the wedding cake. Knowing him and Monty it was going to be a masterpiece of confectionary art. She idly wondered if she could somehow sneak a slice. Lance was nowhere in sight, probably supervising the food for the reception. He'd become quite the chef after taking over ownership of the pub.

In the back of the room, two of those fish people they had met at the island were wheeling in a small tank, with Hook-foot’s half-piscean girlfriend in it. Cass snickered, wondering if there were any Lorbs running around underfoot. They’d give the nobles fits. She didn’t see Edmund but he was probably with Eugene, giving his son last-minute advice that Eugene would pretend to listen to and then ignore. Shorty was asleep on the floor under one of the pews, his snoring echoing in the soaring ceiling of the chapel. She could see Tor’s touches with the flowers around the chapel. Nobody else would incorporate deadly nightshade and pitcher plants, and the occasional skull.

She watched the chapel filling, shaking her head when she saw Stan and Pete escort the shackled Stabbington Brothers to the back of the chapel. Trust Eugene to even invite them. She’d have to keep an eye on them.

As more people settled in their seats, she kept her eyes out for the major players. It couldn’t be much longer now.

At last, she saw Queen Arianna move to the front of the chapel with gliding steps. She opened a door near the dais and grinned, reaching to take Eugene’s hand and tug him firmly into place. She laughed softly and smoothed down a lock of hair that had been misplaced by her ungentle urging, and stretched up on her toes to kiss his cheek. Eugene had a look Cass had seen before, that kind of dazzled vagueness that she’d seen on many of the guards when they had gotten married; finally confronted with the reality that it was happening at last. She chuckled to herself.

Cass noticed Max and Pascal standing in the foyer. Max had been groomed within an inch of his life, bedecked with gold and white tack and carried a small pillow in his teeth. Pascal, perched on his head, had his tail firmly wrapped around a basket full of flowers, all of them Rapunzel’s favorites, she noted wryly. There were two rings resting on the pillow.  _ Ahh, so he was the ringbearer. _

Right about then a noblewoman passed the foyer on her way to her seat. Her floral perfume was strong enough to reach Cassandra where she perched and she could see Max’s wide nostrils twitching, his ears going back and eyes pinning. That wasn’t good!

She dropped out to the rafters in a perfect shoulder roll right as the horse went into a paroxysm of sneezes. She snatched the rings out of the air with one hand and the pillow with the other. She deposited the rings back on the pillow as he got control of himself. “Gotta be more careful, Max.”

His ears came forward and he whickered excitedly, shoving his muzzle into her chest hard enough to make her stagger. Chuckling, she rubbed his forehead with the hand not holding the pillow. “Hi there. I missed you too, boy.”

Pascal scampered down Max’s muzzle, squeaking excitedly. Smiling, she reached a finger up to scratch his tiny head. “And you too, Pascal. I’m glad to see you both doing so well.”

Max snorted and curvetted around her, shoving his head hard into her back, urging her toward the door into the chapel. She planted both feet, managing to arrest the forward motion. “Oh, no. Not you too!”

He whinnied and gave her a  _ look. _ It was all too easy to read. She flinched. “No, Max. I don’t want her to know I’m here. She can’t know.”

He laid his ears back and blew at her. “I know she misses me,” she retorted. “I miss her too. But I’m only here to make sure that nothing happens. I want her to have a good— no, a wonderful wedding. So I’ll stand guard up there,” she indicated the rafters, “And make sure nothing else happens, okay?”

If she’d ever heard such a definitive  _ no _ from a horse before, she didn’t know when. She grabbed his muzzle before he could get any louder and announce to all and sundry that she was here. “Max, please! Don’t you want her to be happy today? Let me do this for her.”

His ears went back and he lowered his head, trying to stare her down. She refused to play, meeting his gaze steadily. “Maximus, no. You can’t let her know.”

Finally, the fight went out of him. She could tell by the way his ears splayed out sideways and the loosening of his muscles. Impulsively, she kissed his muzzle. “Good Max.” 

He nearly went cross-eyed with surprise, and danced back a step.

“After the ceremony, when they are safely away at the reception, I’ll take you to see Fidella, okay? She’s missed you a lot. But that means you do not let anyone know I’m here, okay?”

The prospect of seeing Fidella won him over at last and he gave her a slow nod.

Satisfied, she gave both of them another pat and hurried to scamper back up into her place in the rafters. She had barely gotten back into place when she heard the distinctive thunk of an axe hitting wood. She grabbed for her sword before she realized it was just Hook-hand signalling his accompanist to start the bridal march.

She smiled and let go of her blade, turning with the audience to see King Frederic tucking Rapunzel’s hand into the crook of his arm. Her smile was radiant and she almost danced in place beside her father. Cass couldn’t help a smile almost as delighted as Eugene’s. It was so easy to see how happy she was. They stepped forward and Cass stifled a breathless laugh at the tiny peek of bare toes under the edge of her wedding gown.  _ Raps would never change. _

As much as she wanted to drink in the sight of her friend, Cass forced herself to turn her attention back to the rest of the chapel. All of them looked so happy for her, and something in her relaxed a little. Rapunzel was beloved by almost everyone who knew her.

The king and his daughter reached the dais and he smiled down at her, tucking her hand into Eugene’s before retiring to his seat beside the queen.

A flash of movement caught her eye, she was immediately on guard, only to see it was Max and Pascal backing out slowly. She relaxed and settled back in as she heard Eugene raise his voice to address the gathered crowd.

"Okay, one small thing: We can start the festivities as soon as the Maid of Honor gets down out of the rafters and into her dress."

She snapped to attention, confusion coiling like a snake in her stomach.  _ He was bluffing, he had to be bluffing. _ But no, he was looking right at her, with that irritating little smirk on his lips.

Cass half considered vanishing and leaving Eugene looking stupid, but now Rapunzel was also looking up, and she looked so dawningly hopeful that Cass couldn't go through with it. 

Eugene knew it too, by the smile on his face. “C’mon, Cass. Get down here.”

She dropped down, shoulders hunched and bracing herself for the reaction from the crowd. After all, the last time most of these people saw her, she was laying waste to their kingdom.

So she was taken completely by surprise at the sudden vigorous applause. They... were _ happy _ to see her?

In her shock, she didn't notice several attendants behind her until they were already grabbing her. Reining in her instinctive reaction to fight back, she was hustled behind a suddenly appearing screen and swiftly stripped and changed into a dress of the purple Raps favored. At least she still had her sword around her waist, Friedborg buckling it back into place efficiently, and then hustling her back out to Rapunzel.

"A compromise," Rapunzel said, her face lighting up so much Cass couldn't help but wonder if there was some little bit of the Sundrop left in her.

Bouncing on her toes, it was clear Rapunzel couldn’t hold out any longer and she lunged forward to wrap Cass in a hug so tight it left her breathless. “Thank you for coming home, Cass.” she squealed delightedly.

_ “Raps—” _

Eugene separated them, gripping one of her hands in a firm greeting. “Let’s do this, ladies, now that the whole party’s here.”

A little dazed, Cassandra let Rapunzel tug her forward to the dais.

As Cassandra settled in her place off to the side, she saw Varian in her corresponding spot on the groom's side, as fancily dressed as she was now. His eyes met hers and in that glance she knew he was thinking the same thing she was.

Both of them had turned on Corona and done horrible things. And yet here they were, not only forgiven, but welcomed into the royal wedding party. It was a wonderful— and yet heavy thing. She pulled her shoulders back. And they could  _ both _ bear the weight of it, for the sake of those they loved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (and this is where what was supposed to be a short humorous piece grew a plot)


	3. Of Statues and Siblings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cass has a little bit of a breakdown. So does Rapunzel. I think Eugene is the only one who doesn't.

Most of the rest of the ceremony passed in a blur, save for the moment they all turned to behold a bedraggled Maximus and Pascal stumbling forward to offer the wedding rings. They reeked unpleasantly of tar. She didn't want to know, but couldn't resist murmuring in an aside, "Y'know, I was expecting chaos from anyone but you two."

Pascal squeaked and Max flopped down on his haunches with an exhausted sigh. His back brushed the table with the wedding cake that Atilla had wheeled in just moments ago. They both watched in horror as it started to roll backwards.

Until Shorty, of _all_ people, pushed it back in. "Lookit what I found! Izzit my birthday?"

Cass and Max heaved simultaneous sighs of relief, turning back to see Eugene and Rapunzel finally break their kiss and grin happily at everyone.

Max’s forelegs gave out under him as Eugene laughed aloud and asked who wanted cake?

Cass smirked down at the horse. “I ought to take you to see Fidella looking like that,” she murmured lowly.

Max practically bounced back to his hooves, sending— _were those high heels?_ — clattering away. His ears were flattened and he neighed urgently at her, eyes wide with panic. He danced frantically in place, tossing his head.

“I was kidding, Max. Go down to the stables and dragoon some poor stableman into getting all that muck off you. Better be nice, though, that’s not going to be an easy cleanup.” Cass chuckled and almost patted his nose, but thought better of it. She might stick to him. “As soon as I can get Raps safely off to her reception, I’ll meet you there and take you to see Fidella.”

A hand touched her arm and Cass found herself looking into wide green eyes. “You’re not leaving so soon, are you? You have to come to the reception!”

Cassandra couldn’t stand against the burgeoning hurt in Rapunzel’s voice. “O-of course not. I just promised Max that he could see a certain lady-friend of his once he gets cleaned up.”

“Great! Max has missed her. But come on, let’s get changed for the reception. While it’s a lot lighter than seventy feet of magic hair, I am not dragging a veil as long as this one around!” Rapunzel had already gathered the offending veil over one arm and she used that arm to catch Cassandra’s elbow. She turned and stretched to kiss Eugene on the cheek. “We’ll see you at the reception, husband.”

A pleased smile curled up the ends of Eugene’s lips. _“Husband...”_ he echoed.

Cass laughed. “I’d poke fun at him about how gone he is, but honestly seeing him like this is just as good without me having to.”

Rapunzel rolled her eyes fondly, “C’mon, Cass.”

Cassandra allowed Rapunzel to tug her away, letting her lead the way to the room that obviously had been used to help Rapunzel get dressed for the ceremony. After Eugene’s trick with the gown, she was unsurprised to find an outfit waiting for her here too. A sober blue fading to dark purple split-skirt riding dress, trimmed in gold, and sleek black leggings were laid over a chair, with a matching pair of purple ankle boots under it. Two of her boot daggers were polished and laid out on the chair as well. 

“This sure I was coming?” she asked, picking up a dagger and raising an eyebrow at Rapunzel, who was grumbling as she tried to pull handfuls of hairpins out.

Without thinking about it, Cass moved to help her, removing the veil and setting it aside. She started plucking pins out of Rapunzel’s short mane. The familiarity of the task settled something in her stomach that had been coiled tight. “I’d hoped,” Rapunzel answered honestly. “So, so much. But Eugene was positive. He said there was no way you’d miss being here, if only to look out for me.”

Cass snorted wryly, “Sometimes your pretty boy is too clever for his own good.” She pulled the last pin out and fluffed Rapunzel's mane back into shape. “Don’t you have someone to help you get out of that dress?” she asked, stepping back.

Rapunzel shrugged. “I decided I could do without a lady-in-waiting. I— there’s no one who can live up to my memories of the very best, so I do it myself when I can, or borrow Friedborg from Mom if it's something I can’t do by myself.”

Cassandra found herself blushing and hurried to change so Rapunzel couldn’t see how much her words had affected her. She ducked behind a screen and shed the purple gown, folding it neatly and slipping into the expensive feeling silk outfit. She’d fit her foot into one boot when Rapunzel stuck her head around the screen. “Oh! I remembered something I need to show you!”

“What—?”

Rapunzel surged around the screen and grabbed Cass's hand. "C'mon, c'mon, _c'mon._ You've _got_ to see this!"

"Raps, wait! You aren't even changed yet!" Cass protested, pulling her boot on hastily with the other hand, hopping to keep up with her friend.

"Don't care! Hurry!" Hiking her skirts over her knees, Rapunzel bolted down the corridor, pulling Cass after her. 

It felt so familiar that she let out a breathless laugh. "Raps... _where_ are we going?"

"You'll see!" Rapunzel caroled cheerily.

They turned a corner and Rapunzel pelted barefoot out onto the manicured lawn in the Court of Heroes, full of statues and fountains depicting great heroes of the kingdom's past. She pulled Cassandra past several well known statues and to something that caused her to stop and stare, dumbfounded. 

She'd know that demonic profile in the newest fountain anywhere. _Zhan Tiri!_ The demon was posed with both wrists just colliding, limbs wrapped in carved marble loops of hair. Water poured from the Demon's screaming mouth and the place where the wrists met. Standing tall on a stone plinth was an image of Cassandra, looking powerful and fiercely determined, coils of the same stone hair wrapped around her hands. Below her was Rapunzel, standing there with shorn hair, holding a blade aloft. The dedication on the base of the fountain said "The Defeat of Zhan Tiri by Corona's hero: Cassandra the Brave and the Princess Rapunzel."

Rapunzel danced in place, skirts swirling with her excited movement. "Do you like it?"

Cass's throat felt thick and she had to swallow twice before she could form words. "Yes—” She stretched a hand out toward the statue of herself, seeing it shaking. _“Raps— I—”_

Her knees buckled and Rapunzel abandoned her dancing to guide her down onto the lip of the fountain. “How—?” She managed, tears flooding her eyes. “How can you— how can you call me a hero after what I did?” It was a wail of anguish that had been building up inside her since she had left. “I— I hurt—”

Rapunzel sank down next to her and cradled her close. “Because you are a hero, Cass. Because you— you came back. You fought at my side, you gave me the courage and the wisdom— and yes, the magic— to fight with.” Rapunzel gently touched Cassandra’s chest where the moonstone had once resided. 

“Cass— If you hadn’t, Zhan Tiri would have destroyed Corona, destroyed everyone. You could have let the bitterness and hurt rule, could have run—” Her breath hitched too. “But you threw your everything into helping me. You _died,_ Cass! You—” She sniffled. “I lost you twice, once because I was too blind to look outside my own destiny and see how much you were hurting, stuck in my shadow. A second time because you were willing t-to _die_ to help me win... and then I even lost you a third time when— when— when you left to find your own destiny. And I don’t want to keep you from that, really I don't, Cass, but what if your destiny is here too?” She straightened up and scrubbed at her eyes before using the skirt of her wedding dress to dry Cass’s tears. “Because—” She turned to gaze up at the stone Cassandra, and the expression of steely determination carved into her face. “Because Corona needs a hero and you _chose_ to be one.”  
  
“I—”

“I would have labeled it Cas _san_ dra the Cold, but Sunshine here outvoted me.”

“Eugene!” Rapunzel lit up.

Eugene stepped around the fountain, having shed his wedding attire for a more comfortable looking tunic of Royal Guard red. He sat on Cassandra’s other side. “I mean, I thought it had a pretty nice ring.” 

Cass managed a sort of wet sounding laugh, more a snuffle than an actual noise, but Eugene seemed to understand. “Hey, for what it’s worth, I agree with Sunshine. You chose to fight. Before— Before I met Rapunzel, I ran away a lot. Like, a lot, a lot. I ran to Vardaros then _from_ Vardaros; I ran to Italy when things got too tough in Corona... I ran a lot, because I had nothing to hold on to. Then I met her and I discovered there were things worth sticking around for.” He put an arm around Cass’s hunched shoulders. “You maybe lost the path a bit, but when it came down to it, you chose friendship. You made a hard choice. Not many could have."

Cassandra hiccuped a teary laugh. "When did you grow a brain, Fitzherbert?"

He leaned forward a little and reached around her with his free hand to catch Rapunzel's left hand, pressing a kiss on it right above her wedding ring. "Must be the influence of my wife." He lifted his gaze to Cass's with that oh-so-familiar smirk. "And her snarky sister."

Cass's eyes widened. "We're—"

Rapunzel interrupted her. "Gothel— she may not have been much of a mother to either of us, but in a twisted, roundabout way, she brought us together. That makes us family."

"Family—" Cass echoed softly.

"Wait— does that make her royalty too? Because that might be going a bit too far and I'll have to object to that." Eugene raised a hand. 

"Eugene—" Rapunzel's voice was laced with fond exasperation.

“What? It’s the truth! If she’s family that means she gets to be a royal pain in my—”

_“Eugene!”_

"Neck, I was going to say neck!"

For the first time in a really long time, Cassandra found herself laughing unreservedly, a delighted belly laugh that she couldn’t stop.

Rapunzel giggled, leaning into her. “There’s my best friend!”

Eugene’s arm around her shoulders tightened and he pulled her close, squeezing.

“Uh, Fitzherbert— what are you—?”

“It’s called a hug, Cass, don’t tell me you don’t know what one of those is.”

A slow smirk worked its way across Cass’s face and she turned and wrapped both arms tight around Eugene’s ribs, squeezing until he gasped. “Wrong, Fitzherbert. _That’s_ a hug!”

“Don’t do it, Cass!” Rapunzel giggled.

“Do what?” Eugene yelped.

“Too late!” Cassandra tipped them both backwards into the bowl of the fountain, laughing wickedly at the shriek of laughter it wrenched from Rapunzel. She surfaced, raking sodden bangs out of her eyes. “And that’s winning an argument.” she said smugly.

"Aaaannd now I have to change again. Thanks ever _so_ much." Eugene grimaced at her.

"Ah, you know you missed me, Fitzherbert." Cass laughed again.

"Y'know," Eugene's voice was suddenly a lot quieter. "I did miss you. We all did."

Cassandra froze halfway into climbing out of the fountain. "I—"

"We're not going to force you to stay, Cass," he said solemnly. "But I told you before you left that you were worth fighting for. And it seems that applies to fighting to keep a friend."

“I—” She heaved a sigh. “You know—”

“Why you left? Yeah. But finding your own destiny is a tricky kinda thing. When I was a kid I thought my destiny was being found by my real parents, who _must_ have been swashbuckling rogues somewhere. Well, we all see how that one turned out. Then I thought my destiny was to hit one big score and retire somewhere where nobody knew of the infamous ‘Flynn Rider.’ But I discovered a tower and a lost princess and got all tangled up in someone else’s destiny. But in doing so I found a new dream.” His smile was one reserved only for Rapunzel, so full of love that it almost physically hurt.

"His point," Rapunzel interrupted, "before he gets _too_ off-topic—" 

Eugene made a rude noise at Rapunzel and tried to wring water out of his hair. 

"Is that sometimes what we're looking for isn't what we find. And sometimes it's knowing when to let friends help you find it. I thought my destiny was set in—" she laughed wryly. "Literal stone. But then someone—" she tapped the tip of Cass's nose. "Forced it to change and I and everyone around me... including you, Cass, had to adapt. We changed what happened." She gestured up at the statues in the fountain. "Together."

"Raps, I—"

"Your Highness!" Nigel's voice was both an unwelcome and fortuitous interruption. "Your father is looking for you! Why aren't you at the reception?"

Rapunzel giggled. "Tell him we'll be there shortly, please, Nigel? We have to change first." She gestured at her own wedding dress and Cassandra and Eugene's soaked attire. She didn't give him a chance to respond, grabbing Eugene and Cass's hands and darting past him with a giggle. She made for her own room this time. "We can change in my room, Cass. Eugene, meet us there." She paused long enough to kiss Eugene's cheek before hustling Cass upstairs with her.

She shut the door behind them and leaned her back against it, giggling breathlessly. "Better get dressed. Or in your case, re-dressed!"

Cass snorted at her, kicking off her waterlogged boots. "Ah c'mon, Raps, he was asking for it!"

"He was, but don't tell him I said that!" Rapunzel giggled, nodding at a chest at the foot of her bed. "There's another outfit for you in that chest. I've got to—" she squirmed. "Try and get out of this thing without Friedborg to loosen the laces."

Cass paused. Here she was, Rapunzel's former lady-in-waiting, who had helped Rapunzel into and out of countless formal gowns... and Rapunzel wasn't asking for her help?

Something in her expression must have alerted Rapunzel, because the princess turned to her with a stricken look. "I can do it. I didn't want to ask you to do something you hated."

Cass softened and stepped towards her, pulling the laces Rapunzel had only managed to tighten more with her squirming out of her hands. "I didn't _hate it_ when it was for you. And you know— you can always ask a friend for help." She deftly tugged the laces free and helped Rapunzel step out of the gown. Rapunzel turned and Cass stopped her with a raised hand. "Don't hug me right now, Raps, I'll only get you wet too. Go on and put on something more comfortable while I get out of these wet things. If you have to, you can hug me when we're both dressed."

"Of course I have to!" But Rapunzel obeyed, hurrying to dig out a new dress, a swirl of purple and gold, and stepping behind a painted screen to dress. Cass found the outfit in the chest, strikingly similar to the wet one she had shed, only this time in subtle shades of green. “Why on earth did you have two of these?”

Rapunzel made a squeaking sound behind the screen and then one eye peeped around the edge of the screen, the cheek under it a telling shade of red.

“Don’t tell me, there’s lots more than two of these.” Cass said flatly.

“Possibly.” Rapunzel’s voice was small and sheepish.

“Why?” 

“Um, among the thousands of hobbies I had in the tower to keep myself from going stir crazy, sewing was one of them I practiced a lot. I mostly made my own clothes or cute little dresses for Pascal. When I need to keep my hands busy while thinking hard about something, it’s perfect. My hands know the motions even without me thinking about it, and I’ve had lots on my mind lately and without someone to talk to—” She came out from behind the screen and shrugged, “I got your measurements— the real ones, not the baggy tunics and such— from the castle seamstress. I thought I’d make you a nice outfit if you really did come back for the wedding like we hoped. And then I thought of something better or liked this combination of colors better and...” Rapunzel lifted her hands. “Here we are. And on the bright side, you have a new wardrobe.”

“Raps—” Cass sighed.

“You can fuss at me later, but my dad is going to be so mad if we don’t get there soon.”

Cass jammed her feet in her new set of boots and straightened up with a half-hearted grumble. Because really, she couldn't stay mad at her. Even when she'd been at her worst, under Zhan Tiri's constant eye, she'd always felt the anger running out, like sands from a broken hourglass.

She whoofed in startled surprise as Rapunzel yanked her into a bone-crushing hug. 

"What? You're dressed now." Rapunzel giggled, her nose smooshed into Cassandra’s shoulder.

Cass sighed and returned the hug. "I've missed this," she admitted. "You being you— that free spirited flowerchild of a princess, and dragging me into it."

Rapunzel giggled again, tears shining in her own eyes and pushed away to link her arm through Cassandra's. “C’mon, Cass. Let’s go.”

She opened the door, revealing Eugene with his hand raised to knock. “Ah, there you are, Sunshine. Ready?”

Rapunzel gave him that glowing smile of hers. “Ready!” She linked her other arm through his.


	4. A Crack in the Armor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fair warning: Cass isn't doing entirely well this chapter. Her defenses are crumbling, so she's not in a good headspace for parts of it.

The grand courtyard was absolutely filled with people, more even than had been at Rapunzel's coronation four years ago. The rush of noise hit them and Cass froze on the stairs, for a moment forgetting how to breathe. Her arm spasmed in Rapunzel’s and her first thought was to flee. 

Rapunzel tightened her hold. “Breathe, Cass. I promise it’s better than you think.”

Numbly, she could only shake her head. How many of these people, gathered here in celebration of Rapunzel’s wedding, still hated her for what she had done? Rapunzel let go of Eugene and grabbed her cheeks, forcing her to meet her eyes. “Cass, look at me. I’m asking you to trust me that it isn’t as bad as you think.”

_ “Raps—”  _ Her throat felt too tight and her whole body itched to run.

“Cass—” One of Eugene’s hands took hers and she couldn’t help but squeeze it crushingly tight. “Cassandra, listen to Rapunzel. You know her. You know she won’t lie to you.”

One breath, then two, gulped in through a throat tight with nameless dread and finally her chest loosened, allowing her to breathe again. It helped that with Rapunzel and Eugene crowded around her, she couldn’t see anything but them. Slowly, her tensed muscles relaxed. Her voice came out as little more than a whisper, but it came out. “Now you see why I was planning to stay in the rafters and then slip out once you were at the reception.”

“Cass—” Rapunzel held her gaze. “It’s okay. I swear.”

She was shaking, she knew, but she managed a nod. She couldn’t help closing her eyes when she felt Rapunzel’s hands leave her cheeks. 

“Deep breaths, Cass.” Eugene murmured close by her ear and it startled her enough to open her eyes. She was staring down into the courtyard, but none of the gazes she could see directed her way were hostile.

Still feeling as if she should break and run, she allowed them to lead her down into the crowd. Rapunzel made a bee-line for her father, going up on her toes to throw her arms around his neck and press a laughing kiss on his cheek. Chuckling, Frederic held her tight.

His eyes went past her to Cassandra, and Cass stiffened, trying to tug her arm free of Eugene’s. 

"Cassandra."

She froze and then years of training kicked in and she offered a graceful bow. "Your Majesty."

There was a long beat of silence while she held the bow, eyes downturned, and her heart felt like it had taken up permanent residence in her throat.

Then warm arms were enfolding her against a broad chest and King Frederic's voice rumbled in her ears. "Thank you for coming back to yourself to help save my daughter and my kingdom from that demon."

"Thank you," the queen murmured, joining the hug.

Cass was frozen. They were thanking  _ her? Her, of all people _ ? The one who'd laid waste to Corona?

"Dad, let her breathe." Rapunzel chided softly, her voice carrying notes of laughter.

King Frederic released her after one final squeeze.

Cass wasn't sure if her legs were going to hold her. But Rapunzel's hand was under her elbow and she gathered her wits to bow again because there was no way words were getting past the lump in her throat.

Rapunzel pulled her away, not saying anything about the unusually heavy way Cass leaned on her supporting hand. "You okay, Cass?"

"You— _what?"_

Rapunzel led her over to a table near where a group of players were tuning up. "I what?"

"That's what I'm asking?!" Cass retorted, sinking into the offered seat and running a hand down her face. "What did you do? There is no way on earth your father should welcome me back with open arms, much less a hug, unless you did something. Did you have Varian tweak that mood altering potion again or something?"

Rapunzel's smile was all sunshine. "Maybe you should hear something. Hey, Pete, you guys wanna play "The Fall of Zhan Tiri" for me?"

"Of course, Princess." The guard/accordion player responded.

The players struck up a lively tune and two of them began to sing. Cass could only listen as they recounted the tale of the demon. But when they sang of the victim Zhan Tiri had chosen to play against the Sundrop, she turned her gaze to Rapunzel, who was clapping along. Rapunzel winked and shushed her. They sang of the final battle and it was true enough, though their description of her emerging from the demon's grasp with  _ "eyes new-sighted and determination to see the wrongs the demon had forced her hand to do righted" _ , left her with raised eyebrows. They spoke of her bravery to face down the monster should it even kill her, to save Rapunzel and Corona. 

When they finished and went on to another lively tune, she regarded Rapunzel with raised eyebrows. "Well, they took a few— liberties," she said at last.

Rapunzel folded her hands together under her chin meditatively. "Hmm, no, pretty sure they got all the salient points in. That's one of the better ones, actually. Though I personally like the "Ballad of the Brave" for its emotional overtones, and "Crescent Moon Blade" needs a better title but when that one gets sung there's hardly a dry eye in the house, so you know, potato- _potahto."_

"Raps— could you please explain what is going on before I revert to my bad old ways—" Cass gritted.

Rapunzel stifled a delighted laugh. "I knew it! I bet Eugene you had come to terms enough to joke about it!"

"What makes you certain I'm joking?"

"Because you're trying not to smile and I can see that look in your eyes, the one that convinced me we'd be friends all those years ago."

Cass sighed. "Please then, explain."

Rapunzel dipped her finger in the water that held the flowers in the center of the table, using it to draw a looping line on the white tablecloth. "I— about a day after you left, I was out in the city assessing damages when I heard someone singing the most—" her teeth gritted and she thumped the hand she had been drawing with on the table hard enough to rattle the vase of flowers. "Messed up— inaccurate— frankly  _ biased _ version of the battle that I ever had the misfortune of—"

"Let me guess; it painted me as the villain... Possibly because I was, Raps!" Cassandra interrupted.

"Yes you were, and I'm not disputing that. You— you made some bad choices— did some terrible things— but you owned up to it in the end and worked to set things right. You— in the end, you saw the consequences of your actions, regretted them, and chose the hardest path, the one of making amends. The one of fighting back; the one of—" her voice dropped to a pained whisper. "—Of sacrificing yourself to win the fight."

Impulsively, Cass reached out and rested her scarred hand over Rapunzel's.

Rapunzel turned her hand over and held Cass's, her fingers lightly tracing the map of scar tissue. "I couldn't stand it. Couldn't see you vilified any more, so that night I drafted a proclamation that all bards, minstrels and professional storytellers come to the castle to hear the real story of the defeat of Zhan Tiri." She shrugged. 

"Raps— you might have left out a few crucial details, like the fact that I did all those things, not Zhan Tiri." Cassandra looked away, her shoulders tightening.

Rapunzel blew a lock of hair out of her eyes. "Cass, you are my best friend but sometimes you don't see what I do. Can you honestly say that you would have done all those things if Zhan Tiri hadn't used you? She told me at the spire that she manipulated you  _ every _ step of the way. She fed your discontent, told you things that you really should have heard from someone else, like me or your dad. He and I— We made mistakes too. I  _ know _ I did, so here I am struggling to rectify them. And if it takes retelling the battle with Zhan Tiri over and over again so the right one gets spread around, then sit down because I'm about to start talking." She finished in a rush of breath, her free hand clenched in a fist.

"Raps—" Cassandra sighed. "I'm not a hero. I did a lot of awful evil things, influenced by the demon. I hurt you, hurt Corona and its citizens, and don't even get me started on how much I hurt my dad."

"Has he forgiven you? Yes. Have I forgiven you? Do you even have to ask? Of course I forgave you. Has Eugene forgiven you? Yes." She held up a hand. "And don't start. You know he loves you too. You are a part of our family, one we built for ourselves. Have the citizens of Corona forgiven you? For the most part, yes. Because you did the hard part. The part where in spite of your mistakes, you did everything—" her voice wavered. "Everything you could to make up for it."

"Have I really done enough? Have I paid enough for my crimes?" Cassandra couldn't help how very tired and pained her voice sounded and regretted it the moment the words escaped. But there was no taking them back now.

"Don't you dare!" There was fire in Rapunzel's eyes and her hand tightened painfully on Cassandra's. "There is always going to be more to do, whether it's for redemption or not, but don't  _ ever _ think you have to keep paying for a mistake until there's nothing left of you!" She leaned close, green eyes boring into Cass's soul. "I am not losing you again."

"Hey, hey, hey! I'm not going to do something crazy, Raps. I just don't— don't feel like I earned forgiveness for my actions." Cassandra was quick to reassure.

Rapunzel relaxed a little. "I do. But you can still work for your own peace of mind. Just don't think that you have to work every minute for a forgiveness you already earned."

"And on that note, Sunshine, yes she's already won it and we're about to start dancing and I'd dearly love my first dance with my wife." Eugene leaned over to kiss the top of Rapunzel's head, offering her one hand and holding the other out to Cass.

She looked askance at it. "Not dancing with you, Fitzherbert. It's her you married. Not me."

"Be that as it may, you are going to have some fun tonight if it kills you, Cass. You are going to at least join in the group dancing." 

"Not under your command, Fitzherbert. You can't make me do anything. And I don't dance."

Rapunzel giggled and grabbed Cass's other hand, tugging her to her feet. "You do too. You taught me all sorts of dancing. So I want to dance in the group dance with you. At least it's a million times livelier than the Koto style. Remember that? You called it stuffy."

"I did. But I wasn't the one who tried to liven it up." In spite of her protests, Cass allowed herself to be pulled along.

She settled herself on the edge of one of the raised stone flower beds and watched as first the King, and then Eugene, swept Rapunzel through graceful dances. 

She had to admit, they moved well together. All that time on the road together had given them an excellent sense for their partner’s movements.

Shortly after, the musicians started the music for one of the great circle dances, and a breathlessly laughing Rapunzel came to seize her hands, and whirl her into the steps of the dance. Confronted by smiling face after smiling face, Cass let herself be caught up in the patterns of the dance, exchanging one partner for another in the laughing whirl of bodies, She whirled through a turn facing Eugene, another with a grinning Varian, who stumbled laughingly through the steps, and even the King, all following the pattern of the dance. By the time she was back facing Rapunzel, the tune changed and Rapunzel, grinning wildly, spun her into the new steps.

She danced three of the wild pattern dances before she could escape, pleading to be allowed a drink. She found herself a cooling glass and watched a delighted Rapunzel try to teach Varian a new kind of dance, giggling merrily as she led him through the steps. 

It was wonderful, seeing this side of her friend again, so happy and so in her element, and Cassandra found herself smiling wistfully, thinking of earlier times.

A breath of warm air across the back of her neck triggered her fight reflex and she rolled away, coming up with a dagger in hand, pointed at— a startled Maximus, who danced several steps backward, ending up on his haunches in the flowers.

“Max?” She asked breathlessly, heart still pounding with adrenaline. Forcing herself to relax, she laughed ruefully and sheathed her dagger. “Sorry. I would have come to take you to see Fidella sooner, but—” she waved a hand at Rapunzel, who hadn’t slowed down a bit in her dancing. “You know how Raps is.”

Max whickered with amusement, bobbing his head. Cassandra rested a hand on his neck and glanced back at the dancers one last time. “Let’s go see your girlfriend, okay?”

Max snorted denial, but his eager steps belied his reluctance to call Fidella his girlfriend. When they were out of the circle of lights, she deftly pulled herself up onto his freshly cleaned back and guided him away from the festivities and around the barracks, opening a small gate in the wall for them to pass.

Fidella whinnied a delighted greeting and Cass hurriedly swung down before Fidella and Max all but collided in their enthusiastic greeting. She stepped back and let the two prance around each other, nipping and nuzzling and nickering happily. Leaving them to reacquaint themselves, she moved off to her old climbing apparatus and pulled herself to the top, hand-over-hand. From here she could see the lights of the festivities and hear the music, but find the space to breathe. And she really needed that space. From planning to only stay long enough to see Rapunzel safely through her wedding to the whirlwind it had become from the instant Eugene called her out, she felt almost as disoriented as the time they had been shipwrecked. So this, letting the cool early evening breeze and the music wash over her, alone except for the quiet whickers of the two horses, soothed her senses and gave her some time to gather her thoughts. 

Thoughts that increasingly whispered seductively of warmth and love and all the things that she had missed in her year's journey. She'd been so sure that destiny was waiting for her out there somewhere; her own opportunity to shine, but all she'd found was empty roads, strange faces and manual labor, struggling to rebuild some of what she'd helped destroy. And while it was dirty and wearying and backbreaking, it helped ease her guilt.

"Is that my future?" She whispered quietly to the ears of none but the horses below. "Spending my life helping rebuild what I tried to destroy?"

"I think," said a quiet voice below her. "That you are putting too much store in some sort of prewritten destiny. Maybe finding your destiny isn't so much looking for some great future where it will all make sense as it is finding a place where there are people who care about you, who will forgive the things you've done in the past, and who give you hope to be a better person going forward."

Cassandra startled so badly she nearly fell off her perch. Panting, she peered down into the twilit gloom. Glass clinked and suddenly a soft green light blossomed below her, illuminating the face of Varian, who held the glowing vial aloft with a smile. "Hey, Cassie."

Trying to slow her thundering heartbeat, Cassandra took her time swinging down from her seat. "Varian? What are you doing here?"

"Probably making a mistake," he muttered before raising his voice. "I saw you leave the reception and—"

"You were trying to keep me from slipping off—"

"Nooo— well, yes, okay, that too." Varian shuffled his feet when she alighted on the ground in front of him. "I wanted to talk to you. You left Corona before I could apologize."

A disbelieving laugh burst out of her mouth. "What do  _ you _ have to apologize for?"

"The amber," he said plainly, his eyes haunted. "I didn't fire on you, I probably—" the glowing vial in his hand shook, and she could see how tightly his fingers were clenched around it. "Lets face it, I couldn't have fired on you. It was one thing when I was creating it, or testing, because you know how— um— wrapped up I get in 'creative sciencing' as Eugene calls it. But actually using the— that _horrible_ compound on a living person, someone I called a friend— I couldn't have." Varian's voice quavered. "I think the weapon must've malfunctioned and I am so, so sorry."

Cass shook her head. "Kid— Varian, if anyone should be apologizing, it's me. I did way worse to you. A  _ lot _ worse."

"You— you weren't yourself—"

Cass laughed bitterly, turning away. "Raps. She has everyone gulled, doesn't she? How that wasn't me, that it was Zhan Tiri controlling me— it's not true!"

"Yes it is. You're carrying so much guilt that you can't see it. She got inside my head too, you know. Zhan Tiri."

"What?" Cass whirled, horrified. Guilt churned in her gut. "How—?"

"At your tower. I—" he rubbed his ribs, and with another pang of guilt, Cass remembered sending him flying with a black rock. "I passed out for a little while, in the cage. She came into my dreams, said she was—"

Cass's stomach twisted. "  _ 'A friend. Or she'd like to be.'  _ " she finished with him, the words bitter as poison on her tongue.

He only nodded. "She told me about the fourth incantation, the one Rapunzel used against you." 

"Because the clash of the Sundrop and Moonstone would free her." Cass said acidly. "She was using us."

"She used me too. I woke up desperate to figure out how to translate the last incantation. It was only after I did that I realized that wasn't me. I get absorbed in research but not to the frantic need to decipher it that I was feeling. I'm not quite that crazy... at least on a normal day."

Something deep inside of her twisted, a nauseating sensation. Cass staggered at the sickening lurch as facts snapped into place. She had been bitter after the Great Tree, but—

"Cass?" Varian's concerned voice sounded very far away. "Cassie? Are you okay?!"

That whispering voice, the one she'd always thought was her own insidious fears and insecurities— how had she never realized just how much it sounded like Zhan Tiri's poisonously sweet voice?

Her legs gave out and she landed on her rump in the grass. Vaguely, she heard Varian tell Max to watch over her while he went for help, but that seemed of less than no importance compared to probing at her memories like she would a sore tooth, looking for when the demon had gotten claws into her.

Had it been Adira's blithe assertion that all she was was a servant?

Hector's gravelly voice taunted in her head.  _ "Lady-in-waiting— What are you waiting for—?" _

It had been before the final battle with Hector, infected by the evil sleeping in the heart of the great tree. She remembered the sting of those words and the tiny niggling thought that she was really just nothing but a servant to Rapunzel and her grand destiny. And how she'd always be found wanting. Had those been her own thoughts, or had Zhan Tiri already found a foothold in her mind? She couldn't be sure anymore.

But the longer she thought about it, the more she realized that almost every whispered doubt and fear that she would never be more than a servant, forgotten when no longer useful, had tasted of the taint of the demon. Every jealous, bitter thought of forever being the one left waiting while others claimed the things she desired, reeked of Zhan Tiri's interference. And she had believed them.

Helplessly, she drew herself into a ball, hot face buried in her hands and shielded behind her raised knees. Her thoughts were a spiral of recrimination and horrified guilt. How had she not realized those thoughts were not hers? Had she been  _ so very easy _ to influence, to corrupt until she had turned on her best friend?

She felt Max's muzzle pressing into her hunched shoulder, but could not even uncurl enough to reassure him. How could she? She had no way to describe the sickening self-realization she had come to. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears and her head pounded in time, tears burning in tightly shut eyes.

At first she thought the running footsteps were just a product of her throbbing head until a warm body slammed into her side and arms clung tight to her. “Cass! Cass?!  _ Cassandra?” _ The voice calling desperately in her ear only added to her overwhelming guilt and she curled up tighter, a whimper escaping tightly pressed lips as Rapunzel shook her shoulders desperately.

“Ease up, Sunshine.” Eugene, some part of her identified. “I know you’re scared but back off and let her breathe.”

“Eugene—?” Raps was crying. Cass could hear the tears in her voice and that made something in her closed off throat struggle to form words.

"Cass, I know you don't take orders from me, but you need to calm down now and try to catch your breath. You're frightening Sunshine." Firm hands rested on her wrists.

Cass tried to obey, breath whistling loudly through the hands clamped over her face.

"Eugene—?"

"She'll be okay, sweetheart. I sometimes saw this from other kids in the orphanage when I was younger. I think she just had too much to process hit her at once. You said you were talking about Zhan Tiri, right, Varian?"

"Y-yeah." The kid sounded almost as scared as Raps. "She locked up when I told her about Zhan Tiri using me to translate the last incantation."

"Sounds about right.” The hands around her wrists tightened. “Hey, Cass. Just breathe, okay?”

She managed a jerk that could loosely be termed a nod, and sucked in air. Rapunzel started rubbing her tensed back and she was grateful for the contact. She didn’t know how long she struggled to ease her panicked breathing. Varian knelt next to Eugene and rested a hand on her knee.

It was the reassurance of them around her that finally broke through the paralysis and she slumped over, resting her head on Rapunzel’s shoulder. Her next sound bordered on a sob, but she managed to force words out. “I— I’ve been a fool.”

“While I would normally agree with you— no, you haven’t.” Eugene said. “I’m gonna guess what Varian said triggered something?”

She tiredly rolled an eye in his direction. “Stop b-being smart.”

He chuckled warmly and settled down beside her, dropping an arm over her shoulders. “At least you can appreciate my scintillating intellect now.” 

“Cass? Are you okay?” Rapunzel was holding her close to her side in a way that would normally make her uncomfortable, but right now the contact was solid and reassuring.

“Matter of opinion,” she rasped. “I just realized how much of an idiot I’ve been.”

“Eugene—” Rapunzel chided.

“I didn’t say anything!”

“You were going to.” Rapunzel retorted. “You’re not an idiot, Cass.”

“Just a blind fool then, one who didn’t even realize just how long she’d been played.” Cass’s breath hitched.

“Ah—” Rapunzel’s voice was soft with understanding. “I’m guessing Varian told you about how Zhan Tiri got into his head?”

“How?" She pled. "How did you know that I was being manipulated like that?"

“Demanitus. He left several scrolls in a hidden chamber in what’s now Varian’s lab. It was broken open during the battle, and well, our resident alchemical genius translated them.” Eugene answered. “Turns out Demanitus kept detailed records on his foe, including the ability she had to manipulate people with just one opening.”

“Just one opening—?” Cass wondered aloud, her voice thin and fragile in her own ears. 

“One tiny break in someone’s defenses.” Varian answered. “Lord Demanitus detailed several of Zhan Tiri’s traps, built by her followers as ways to give the demon a foothold in this world, through others. They were spread out, and he destroyed or dismantled several of them, but there were others hidden in various places. I've found several of them, and with help, taken them apart. There was one in the rubble of Old Corona, another near the destroyed stone bridge, and three in the woods outside the walls." He fidgeted and looked up, his gaze solemn. "There are others I've found the locations of, and Eugene is going to be sending out search parties to destroy them, but, Cass— one is in the Great Tree."

She knew that already. Shuddering, Cass nodded. "I— it was there— where everything started to go wrong— so badly." She flexed her scarred hand, flinching slightly when Rapunzel laid a hand over it.

"Cass," Rapunzel's arm tightened around her waist like she was going to keep her from ever leaving again. And to be honest, Cass didn't feel inclined to move, much less get up and flee. "It— some of it was my fault too. I was trying so, so hard to not be that naive princess anymore that when I got frustrated and snapped at you, I forgot for a moment that even before anything else, we were friends— and— and I hurt you  _ so _ badly."

Cassandra blinked at the stinging in her eyes, remembering her own plaintive plea of  _ 'When did you stop trusting me?' _ "I forgot my pl—"

A hand over her mouth cut her off but to her surprise, it wasn't Rapunzel, but Eugene. "I swear, Dragon Lady, if you even _ think  _ about finishing that sentence, I'm going to have my next batch of raw recruits use you as target practice."

"Cass, you always were my most trusted friend and advisor, even more so than Eugene," she quirked a gentle smile at her husband. "No offense, love."

"None taken."

"Because I could always count on you not to sugar-coat the hard truths. You knew when to be blunt, and not try to spare my feelings. And even if I disagreed with you, I always— always— weighed your reasons against mine to keep me from acting without thinking." She smoothed her fingertips over the scarred flesh on Cassandra's hand. "This is what happens when I act before thinking. People I love get hurt.

"Maybe that was what gave Zhan Tiri that crack in your armor she needed and— and—" Rapunzel's voice wavered.

"It wasn't your fault, Raps. If— if you can say with such certainty that— that what I did while under her influence wasn't my fault, then I can say with certainty that it wasn't any fault of yours that she got a hold on me." Cass turned her scarred hand over to twine her fingers through Rapunzel's. "Can we agree on that?"

Rapunzel's smile was a little watery but she nodded vigorously. "I'm going to invade your personal space now," she warned with a barely audible giggle.

"Like you're not alread— _ooofff!"_ Cassandra grunted at the fierce hug Rapunzel wrapped her in. Chuckling a little breathlessly, she returned the unrestrained embrace.

Eugene rose to his feet and pulled Varian up and almost off his feet entirely before turning to offer his hands to Rapunzel and Cassandra. "Good. Shall we go rejoin the party before people start looking for us?"

Cass took his hand and let him haul her to her feet, though he took it a step further and spun her around until he had his arm squarely over her shoulders. "Fitzherbert—" she warned. 

He linked his other hand with Rapunzel's and lifted it to press a kiss on the back of Rapunzel's knuckles. "Aw, you know you love me, Cass."

Her lips twisted sideways but she kept any insults behind them. "Stop manhandling me unless you'd like a painful demonstration of just how much!"

Rapunzel extended her other hand to Varian and together, they went back to the music, laughter and lights of the reception.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _(A note on Zhan Tiri and canon: Going back and rewatching episodes leading up to Cassandra's taking of the moonstone, I had to wonder just how Zhan Tiri had turned someone who was as loyal as Cass against Rapunzel. All you had to do was watch "Freebird" to see just how much Cass really cared and would do anything for Rapunzel. And even after she was hurt and their subsequent argument, Cass was still always there for Rapunzel. So how could she have been turned? What if Zhan Tiri had gotten her poisonous claws into her before the "House of Yesterday's Tomorrows", say back at the Great Tree? That gave rise to how much anxieties and insecurities can warp how you see the world, and the thought that what if Zhan Tiri was feeding those feelings, manipulating Cass's emotions long before she actually manifested in the House. Since that made so much more sense, I decided that is what really happened to fuel the bitterness of always being overlooked into a betrayal.)_


	5. Barefoot and Fancy-Free

It was well after midnight that the party finally broke up. Cass had discarded her boots after another set of pattern dances and she danced as barefoot as her princess until they were all winded. She got her coveted slice of wedding cake and joined her friends in an impromptu picnic of finger foods that a beaming Lance had brought heaping platters of, seated on a balcony above the courtyard, bare feet dangling over the heads of the dancers. Even Eugene had shucked his boots, though Varian stubbornly kept his on for the extra inch of height it afforded him.

Cass leaned back on her hands and stared up at the waxing moon and the diamond pinpoints of stars.

Rapunzel poked her bare toes with her own. "What are you thinking of?"

"How bright the stars are. How no matter where I wandered, the same stars lit the sky as here." Cass replied.

Rapunzel bit her lip. "I know I said I wouldn't beg you to stay, but will you at least stay for the rest of the festival? I've missed you, and I haven't had this kind of fun in ages."

Cass turned a raised eyebrow on her friend. "This is your wedding festival, I'm pretty sure you have other things to do than hang out with me?"

Eugene laughed and slipped his hand around Rapunzel's waist. "I get to have Sunshine all to myself the week after the festival, we're going up to the cabin in the mountains. The festival is all about being here and being seen and spending time with people, and I for one, think I would look fabulous with Sunshine and her fire-breathing sister on my arms for the week of the festival."

"Fitzherbert—"

"Seriously, Cass, there are no people in the world I'd rather spend this festival with than the ones right here," he waved his hand to indicate all of them, Lance included. "So live a little. You can go back to being cold, dark and brooding after the festival."

She couldn't stand proof against the pleading stare Rapunzel fixed on her and heaved a theatrical, put-upon sigh. "Fine, fine. I'll stay until the end of the festival. But don’t think I’m hanging off your arm, Fitzherbert.”

He chortled delightedly. “Aw, c’mon, Cass. How dare you ruin my looking fabulous for the festival?”

“Do you want to go back into the fountain? Because that can be arranged.” Cass retorted, feeling a smile tugging at her own lips.

“You wound me.”

“That can also be arranged.”

“No hurting him before the end of the festival,” Rapunzel put in, giggling. 

“Pardon me for interrupting, but I was hoping I could steal my daughter for a dance, Princess.”

They all turned to see Cass's father standing at the top of the stairs, bent in a bow, with one hand extended.

Laughing, Rapunzel nudged Cass. “Go on.”

“Fine, dad. But I’m not putting my boots back on.” Cass rose to her feet and took his hand.

He chuckled. “I’ll do my best not to step on your toes, honey.”

He walked with her back down the stairs and whirled her into the steps of a dance, smiling down at her. “I’m glad to see you smiling, Cass. Even before you left, you still looked like you were hurting.”

“I was, dad.” Cass answered honestly. “I don’t think I ever forgave myself for what I did.”

“Honey—”

“It’s okay, dad, honestly. I’m learning how to. It helps when I have people who insist it’s not entirely my fault.”

“The princess—”

“She told me. And looking back, I realized she’s right. I let Zhan Tiri feed my insecurities.”

He looked down. “Part of that is my fault. I should have told you the truth, but I’ll be honest, I didn’t want that hanging over your head when you were little, and later— I never wanted you to think you were anything but _my_ daughter, not to associate yourself with that _woman_ at all.” The bitter anger in his voice as he spoke of her— of Gothel— told her all she needed to know of his intentions.

To him, she was his much beloved daughter, _not_ the child of that kidnapping witch. It warmed something old and cold in her chest to know he really had only had the best intentions when keeping the truth of her real parentage from her. The music ended and she leaned into him, resting her forehead against his broad chest. "I love you, dad," she murmured into his shirt. "Maybe I stopped saying it as much as I did when I was little, but I never stopped loving you. Even when— when Zhan Tiri brought out the worst in me."

His arms slipped around her and tightened. "It— it nearly broke me when I thought you hated me." His voice was small and soft, very unlike how it normally sounded. "I— I may have lost my own way, a little, after that. I missed you so much that it was a physical pain."

"I'm sorry, dad. I hurt you because I was hurting and angry and—" Cassandra stopped herself with a monumental effort, chest hurting and breath short. She had cried more tonight than she had since she was still that little abandoned child. "I love you and I'm so sorry that I ever hurt you."

He held her close. "I forgave you a long time ago. Can you forgive me for not telling you the truth?"

Cass huffed a soft laugh. "You told me the right truth. That you loved me and if I hadn't been— not in my right mind— I would have known that." She slid her arms around his waist and squeezed. "Love you, daddy."

"Love you too, honey." 

In her the warmth grew and spread, and she held on tight to the feeling.

Another dance and he escorted Cass back to her small group of friends, her scarred hand tucked in the crook of his elbow. The others were still lounging on the balcony, though Varian looked about three blinks short of being asleep where he sat, and Lance was in the process of excusing himself to put Catalina and Angry to bed in one of the guest rooms. With a last hug and a tousle of her curls, her father bid her a good night.

She felt warmer and lighter than the one glass of wine she had drunk earlier could account for and she folded herself down on the marble between Rapunzel and Eugene as Lance carried the sleepy girls away.

"You look happy," Eugene observed, reaching for another tidbit on the mostly decimated tray Lance had provided. "Should I be worried?"

The laugh that burst out of her was quiet, but full of joy. "Maybe."

He side-eyed her but there was a smile tugging at his lips. “It's good to see you smiling again, Cass.”

She threw her arm around his neck and pulled him into a sideways chokehold of a hug. “Even if it means I’m plotting against you, Fitzherbert?”

He sputtered and batted at her ineffectually until she let him go. He fixed his hair while glaring at her, but softened after a moment. “Even then.”

Rapunzel was giggling, tired and tipsy, and Cass elbowed her. “You know I have to torment him, keep him in line for my favorite barefoot princess.”

Rapunzel's giggles got louder. “I’m the _only_ barefoot princess you know, Cass.”

“I don’t know about that,” Cass smirked. She stuck her own bare foot in Rapunzel’s face and wriggled her toes. “You said I’m family, so wouldn’t that make me a princess too?”

Rapunzel’s peal of delighted laughter startled the drowsing Varian awake while Cass broke down laughing too.

Eugene groaned. “Oh, no... we are not going there. Do not!”

His dismay only made the two of them laugh harder. 

"What did I miss?" Varian asked quizzically.

Rapunzel stuck her bare foot into Eugene's face, still giggling hysterically. "Barefoot Princesses unite! We shall not be bound by the wickedness that is shoes!"

Cass flopped on her back, stretching her legs up with bare toes pointed toward the sky. "Apparently, Eugene does not approve of a second shoeless princess." She offered dryly before laughing again.

"Wait— who's a princess?" The young alchemist questioned, blinking sleep out of his eyes.

"Eugene!" Rapunzel caroled, laughing even harder

"Okay, time for Sunshine here to go to bed before she gets any sillier," Eugene groaned before getting up. He was smiling, though, as he pulled Rapunzel to her feet. 

“M’not tired!” she pouted up at him, though the effect was rather ruined by the loud yawn that followed.

“Of course you aren’t, Sunshine,” Eugene soothed with a chuckle. “But the reception is winding down and we have a full day of Wedding Festival tomorrow.”

“Best wedding day _ever!”_ She cheered, leaning into him and this time Eugene was the one who laughed, a loud bark of amusement. 

He swept her up in his arms and planted a loving kiss on her nose. “Sweetheart, never, ever change.”

She wrinkled her nose at him. “Not planning on it.”

“That’s my girl.” Eugene turned his attention to Cassandra, still sprawled on the cool marble, her toes pointed up at the sky and her arms stretched out over her head. “Cass, will your old room be okay, or do you want a different one? I’m sure we could find a guest room.”

She opened her mouth to reply, brow furrowed.

“It’s too late to say no,” Eugene cut her off. “We bribed your horse.”

She blinked owlishly at him. “You— _bribed_ my horse?”

He chuckled. “Did you honestly think poor Fidella would turn down a warm stall full of fresh hay, a good rubdown and grooming, and all the good food she could eat for a night at a creaky old inn stable?” He winked. “An inn stable that didn’t have Max in the next stall?”

Cass laughed. “Can’t deprive her of her Max time. My old room will be fine, thanks.”

“Good.” Tucking Rapunzel firmly against his side, Eugene grinned down at her. “We’ll see you bright and early in the morning. Sunshine is still up with the birds.”

Impishly, Rapunzel whistled a bit of lark-song.

Cass chortled, flexing her body up into an arc and flipping herself neatly onto one knee. Varian, looking impressed, offered a hand. She considered it for a moment before accepting, allowing the alchemist to pull her the rest of the way to her feet. “I remember. I’ll see you in the morning.”

Eugene grinned. “Don’t keep the kid up too late, Cas _san_ dra.”

Ignoring Varian’s indignant, _“Hey!”_ Eugene swooped Rapunzel up into his arms and left the balcony.

“Ignore him,” Cass advised, bending to pick up her discarded boots. “He likes to get a rise out of people.”

Varian, cheeks flushed, muttered something rude under his breath.

Cass elbowed him, and looked pointedly down at his hand still around hers.

Varian went an even brighter shade of red and snatched his hand back like she had burned him.

Cass sighed. “Varian, that’s the only reason he was teasing you. You wear everything on your sleeve.” She ruffled his bangs gently. 

Varian heaved a sigh and his shoulders sagged. “Yeah. Sorry, Cassandra.”

“Cassie,” she corrected with a gentle smile. “We’re still friends.” She reached under the neck of her dress and tugged out the necklace he had given her, watching his blue eyes brighten. 

He grinned. “The Cassandrium! I didn’t know you took it with you!”

Cass smoothed her fingers over the stone. “Of course I did. It’s important to me.” She tossed her head with a smile. “When you’re on the road, you only have room for really important things.”

His grin widened. “So— um, before you go to bed, do you want to see what I finally got to work right?” 

His eyes were bright and eager and she couldn’t find it in herself to deny him. “Sure, but I suspect Eugene will be coming to roust me out of bed at an unpleasant hour, so it’ll have to be quick.”

“Promise, and hey— It might even help you get to sleep!”

Smirking, she poked him. “That boring, is it?”

“No— no, no, _no!_ It— just, well, oh— just trust me!” Varian flailed animatedly as he led her down darkened halls

“I always do.”

He flushed dark red again and his flow of words stammered to a halt. Finally he stopped in front of a massive, iron-banded door that was definitely a new addition to the castle architecture. But if she wasn’t mistaken, this was the way down to what had been the chambers under the Vault. She'd only ever been there once, but she still knew most of the castle like the back of her hand. He led her through the door and into a vast space, shrouded in gloom where lamps weren't burning brightly. 

Varian stopped her just in front of a huge machine that rumbled softly, venting steam. “Um, this is the— the master boiler. I finally got it to work right and well, Dad has been helping me put in pipes and— Well, watch!”

He led her to an alcove with a drain in the bottom and a strange pipe thing emerging from the wall. There was a large metal handle on the wall and he grabbed and twisted it. Water showered down from the odd pipe and grinning wildly, he grabbed her hand and held it under the— _warm!_ — water.

He laughed delightedly at the wonder on her face. “Eugene and I call it a shower, but I’ve started installing pipes to fill tubs for hot baths and all!”

Turning her hand under the flow of warm water, Cass marveled. "A hot bath without so much hard work? That sounds amazing, Varian."

Varian reached past her and turned the knob again, and the water got even warmer. "This adjusts how hot the water is by adding cold or blocking the cold flow too."

Cads stuck her scarred hand into the much warmer water and breathed a soft sigh. The heat soothed the dull ache that lived almost permanently in her fingers. "This is wonderful, Varian." She laughed. "A hot bath or shower sounds amazing. I've mostly been bathing in streams and lukewarm fireside baths."

"Um— if you want—?" Varian ducked his head, eyes hidden behind his fringe of bangs. "I don't have the piping laid in your part of the castle yet, but if you want— I mean only if you want to— you can shower down here. Hot water is really relaxing and might help you fall asleep?" His voice lilted up, cracking a little. 

"I put a curtain around the shower area," he lifted a hand to point at the thick canvas she hadn't noticed beforehand. "Um, I can go get you some towels and like a robe or something so you can just go up and go to bed when you're all warmed up and clean and I'm just going to stop talking now—" He buried his face in his gloved hands.

Cass laughed. "You're fine, Varian. And you know what? I'm gonna take you up on that offer. A hot shower sounds terrific. You do good work."

"Oh— oh, yeah. Showering— Um, towels— just let me grab those—"

"Breathe, Varian," Cass chided, putting her hands on his shoulders and directing him toward the door. "I'll still be here when you get back."

Still tomato in color, Varian mumbled something and darted away.

Cass set aside the outfit Raps had made for her and stepped under the fall of gloriously hot water, pulling the curtain closed around the alcove. She had no words to describe how the water felt, like a benediction, a peace she didn't know she deserved.

Her muscles relaxed under the warmth and for a long moment all she could do was stand there, reveling in the feeling of the hot water pouring down over her. She heard quiet noises outside the curtain and deduced that Varian had returned with towels. "You were right, Varian," she called past the curtain. "This is—"

A chitter interrupted her and she glanced up to see Ruddiger perched on the line the curtain was strung on. "Hello to you too, Ruddiger."

The raccoon had a bottle in his clever forepaws and offered it to her with a chirrup.

Cass took the unlabeled glass from his claws, turning it over in her hands. "What is this?" She worked the stopper loose and took a cautious sniff of the contents. _Oh, that smelled heavenly!_

"Ruddiger!" Varian's voice sounded too loud and embarrassed. "I told you to give her the bottle, not hang around peeping! Shoo!"

As Ruddiger scampered away, scolding, Cass chuckled. "Okay, so I'll ask you. What is this?"

"Just soap." His voice was muffled, and she had a feeling if she could see him, he'd have his face buried in his hands.

"Varian—" she chided.

"I made it for Rapunzel. She wanted it to give you next time you were in Corona; that it had your favorite smells in it!" Varian blurted.

Cass took another sniff. She could smell sandalwood, an incense imported from somewhere past the Southern Isles; she had hoarded a tiny bottle of it that her father had bought for her when she was thirteen. Night-blooming water lily, too, a smell she had developed a fondness for after seeing Rapunzel go into raptures after finding a pond full of the blooms on one of the nights she had snuck her out. A tiny hint of vanilla to mellow the sweetness of the lily and remind her of her childhood. "It— it smells lovely, thank you." She stumbled over the words, hating that she did.

Rapunzel was being herself, she knew, but it felt like a kindness she hadn't earned. She bit her bottom lip, and stuffed the feeling down. She didn't have to earn it, she reminded herself.

"You're welcome." Varian said softly. "I'm gonna leave the towels and stuff out here and head to bed. I'll— I'll see you tomorrow?"

Holding the glass bottle to her chest, Cass nodded, even though he couldn't see her. "I'll be there."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (Varian may be remembering and/or re-experiencing his crush on Cass again. She realizes and deflects gently.)


	6. Festival: Day One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Silly and self indulgent fluff. Also Phantom is entirely to blame for the crossover cameo.

True to Eugene's word, Cass was woken the next morning by an over-excited princess bouncing on her. She came up flailing, hearing Eugene's amused laughter as Rapunzel hugged the stuffing out of her.

Gasping, she patted the back of Rapunzel's head. "Okay, okay! I'm awake! What's with the clinging?"

Raps squeezed her even tighter. "I was afraid it was a dream when I woke up, but you're still here!"

"I promised, didn't I?"

Rapunzel deflated a little. "You did. I just—"

"Raps, I promised."

"I know, I know, but when I woke up this morning, sure yesterday was just a wonderful dream, I had to." Rapunzel bounced a little. "I'm so happy you are here, Cass. I haven't— haven't been this— good in a long time."

"Raps— I'm right here." She chuckled. "But we're not going anywhere unless you get off of my legs."

"C'mon, Sunshine." Eugene lifted Rapunzel off of Cass's bed. "Let's go poke Varian awake while Cass gets dressed."

"But—"

"Sweetheart, I'm sure the Dragon Lady can put clothes on by herself. Let's go and you can pounce on Varian."

Cass chuckled as Eugene tugged Rapunzel out the door. Though it hadn't been a full night's sleep, the combination of the hot shower and a soft bed that did not have twigs and stones poking her in the back had left her feeling surprisingly well-rested. She flung her blankets off and padded over to her clothes chest. Unsurprisingly, mixed in with her clothes were more of Rapunzel's creations. Thankfully, Raps had remembered that Cass's tastes were subdued.

She dressed in one of Rapunzel's gifts, a flared knee-length tunic of a blue-green she thought was lovely and dark blue fitted trews with piping in matching blue-green. Smiling at her reflection, she tied back her just slightly too-long hair back with a ribbon. She really needed to have it trimmed. A sword wasn’t the most effective way to give yourself a haircut, she'd found.

Not counting the dress that she had worn for the wedding, she was the most dressed up she had ever been. She resettled her necklace with a flick of her fingers. "Who'll look fabulous, Fitzherbert?" She asked her reflection with a smirk, before belting on her short-sword.

There was a rapid-fire tapping on her door that could be no one but Rapunzel. "I'm coming."

She has no sooner opened the door than she was seized and drawn into a breathlessly tight hug. “Raps—” she laughed a little, pushing back Rapunzel’s shoulders. “What’s with the sudden need to break my ribs?”

“Oops—” Rapunzel’s beaming face turned up to her, no remorse in her eyes. “I just— really want to hug you. I forgot about personal space.”

Cassandra laughed aloud. “I think I forewent the whole personal space thing when I became friends with the most enthusiastic princess in the Seven Kingdoms.” 

She looped her arm over Rapunzel’s shoulders and turned to the rest of the crew waiting in the hall. Eugene was dressed to impress, with a captain's sash over a handsome red tunic, of course, but even Lance was looking good in a pleated maroon coat over a white shirt and black vest. Catalina, perched on his shoulder, showed the hand of an enthused princess in her clothes, a summer-green shirt over darker green pants and her long red hair braided into a crown bedecked with tiny blue flowers. Angry was dressed nicely in sober dark reds, almost a match for Lance’s maroon. Varian had left the goggles at home, dressed in a sweeping black coat over a dark blue shirt and pants.

Cass reached out and ruffled his bangs. “Thank you for introducing me to your invention last night. The shower was amazing!”

He flushed.

“I know,” Eugene enthused, running a hand through his hair. “You just can’t get this kind of body anywhere else!”

“Peacock.” Cass prodded him with a finger.

He preened. "Excessively good-looking and eye-catching? Why— Yes, yes— I am."

"Don't forget all the screaming."

“Excuse you, Cas _san_ dra. I do not scream.”

“There’s a giant spider on your shoulder.” Cassandra said, straight-faced.

“Very fun—” He turned his head and came face to face with a very large brown and black spider-creature. His scream could have shattered glass and he flailed, falling back on his rump.

Cass caught the creature out of the air with a laugh. “Good Pascal!”

The chameleon faded back to his normal colors, losing the pattern that had made him look like an arachnid, and chirped merrily, curled around her fingers.

 _“Very funny_ , frog!”

Pascal just chirped laughingly, while everyone else in the hall broke down into a riot of laughter. Even Lance was chuckling, even though he was a rather interesting shade of green.

“Just for that, you do not get to go to the festival on the arm of the most devastatingly handsome man in Corona!” He brushed himself off with immense dignity and took one of Rapunzel’s hands to tuck into the crook of his elbow.

“Oh, so my dad isn’t coming?”

“Hey!”

Cassandra laughed again, extending a hand to Varian and the other one to Angry. She gave them both a sly grin and pulled them into a run. “Race you!”

This time it was Rapunzel who yelped an indignant, _“Hey!”_

They pelted down the stairs and out into the open air, Cassandra in the lead by inches, all of them laughing breathlessly. Rapunzel put on a burst of speed and darted past her towards the gate.

Cass let go of Angry and whirled on her heel. She grinned wildly at Varian. “Trust me!” She spun him around and then with all her strength, tossed him after Rapunzel. Yelping in dismayed surprise, he sailed past her, skidding to a breathless, startled halt just past the open gate. He had to grab the gate post to keep from going over, his face a little dazed. Cheering, Cass scooped up Angry. “We won!”

She pelted past Rapunzel to grab Varian’s hands and spin him into a brief victory dance. When she let go of him, he was laughing breathlessly, his cheeks flushed pink.

Rapunzel only laughed. “Next time I’m winning!”

Eugene caught up with her and after panting for breath for a moment, rested a hand on her shoulder. “I think you _already_ did, sweetheart.” He nodded at Cass, who was laughing hard, her face bright with a joy they hadn’t seen from her in ages.

Rapunzel looked up at him, her eyes full of hope. “I wish she could see what I see. That she’s home, that she doesn’t need to chase some grand destiny, not when happiness is right here for the taking.” Her gesture took in the laughing tableau around them.

He bent to kiss her lightly. “I think she will, with a little help from her family.”

She leaned into him, smiling wistfully. 

Eugene kissed her again and, grinning, strode up to Cass. “Okay, so you won!” He grabbed her hand and tucked it into the crook of his elbow, holding it there firmly while Rapunzel came up on his other side and took his elbow. “Your prize is to be escorted around the festival by two of the most gorgeous people in all the seven kingdoms!”

“Fitzherbert!”

“Accept your prize gracefully, Cass.” He smirked at her.

“You need a muzzle.” But she didn’t reclaim her hand, letting it stay tucked in Eugene’s elbow.

“Let’s hit the market first.” Eugene said. “Then we can head to the entertainment pavilion. I hear there’s supposed to be a terrific performance later of ‘Sun Eclipsed,’ by these players I’ve never heard of but everyone seems to think are amazing. They’re from some island or something. Guess they don’t have much to do there but work on their entertaining skills.” He chattered on, but Cass had stopped listening after _‘Sun Eclipsed.’_ Her steps slowed, until her dragging forced Eugene to stop. “Cass?”

“I’m okay.” She faked a smile, but it obviously wasn’t that convincing since he was still looking at her with concern, Rapunzel peering past his chest with an identical look of worry. “I just— would it be okay if I passed on the play? I’m not sure I want to see that, not right now.”

“Okay, new plan. No entertainment pavilion. Got it.”

“Eugene, no.” Cass shook her head. It was obvious she wasn’t on her game, not when she was calling him by his first name. “It’s fine, you can go, I just don’t think I’m up to a rendition of that day. I’ll keep myself occupied while you all go. I’m not going to spoil your fun.”

“Cass, it would spoil our fun if you aren’t there,” Rapunzel put in. “But we won’t force you to see something you don’t want to. That’s not fair to you. We’ll skip the play.”

Her fingers tightened on Eugene’s arm, but Cass took a deep breath. “Thank you.”

Eugene reached across his body to pat her pale fingers where they were still tucked in his elbow. “Hey, don’t worry about it. There’s lots to do— and we better get a move on before we lose everyone else.” He cocked his head to where Varian was distracted by a chemist’s stall and Angry and Catalina were dragging Lance toward Monty’s portable candy cart.

Cass took a deep breath and followed. Maybe one day she would be able to watch a play about that day, but after last night the emotions were too raw, the wound too open. But for now, she would concentrate on the feel of her friends close to her, the sounds of their laughter. She wished there was some way to bottle this day, to keep it close to her heart when she was far away.

Rapunzel tugged them to an artist’s stall, cooing delightedly over the imported pigments and delicate brushes displayed there. She picked up several pots in sea colors and held them up, one by one, to Cass’s face, humming thoughtfully. 

“Raps, you are not painting my face. Especially not in those colors. I’d look like Pascal.” Cass used her free hand to gently push Rapunzel's hand away from her face.

“Don’t be silly. I’m comparing these to your skin tone to find which colors suit you better.” She set down a pale blue. “Like that one is too light, would wash you out too much.” She tipped another bottle to the light. “I like this one so much better, the warm purple undertones would add a lot of color to your face.”

“Planning on painting a lot of pictures of me?” Cass asked dryly.

“No— well, okay— maybe, but I was thinking of having a local dyer see if they could duplicate the color for fabric use.” She pursed her lips. “Not all of the colors I used worked out for you so I need to find better ones.”

Cass laughed softly. “Raps, you made me more than enough. Anyway, you’re a princess, you hardly need to make clothes for a— a wanderer.”

“A friend,” Raps corrected stubbornly. “A princess can do what she wants for her friends. And I like making nice clothes for you.”

“Okay, okay. Not fighting with you.”

“Good.” Rapunzel turned back to the seller, paying for her choices and arranging to have them delivered to the palace. While she was distracted with that, Eugene let go of Cass just long enough to pick up a large, mixed tray of pigments and some of the brushes Raps had fallen in love with and dropped the appropriate number of coins into the seller’s hands, nodding at the packages that Rapunzel was fussing over. The seller nodded and indicated he would add them to the delivery.

Cass smirked up at him as he returned to her side. “That was sly.”

He offered her one of his insouciant half-smiles. “I’m good at that, Dragon Lady.”

She accepted the arm he held out to her, sliding her hand back into place. She’d never admit it out loud, but she didn’t mind his insistence on escorting her along with Rapunzel. It reminded her that he cared too, in his own, more than slightly crazy way.

They stopped at Uncle Monty’s cart to pry the girls away, and Eugene, smiling, bought treats for both the girls and Rapunzel and Cass. Rapunzel was in raptures of delight over the golden-yellow, lemon flavored ‘Sundrop’ candies while Cass quietly savored a honey toffee. Cass even thanked Eugene politely, and while his mouth was open in surprise at being thanked, popped a candy into it, smirking at the look on his face. Beside her, Rapunzel giggled delightedly and did the same, pushing one of her lemon candies against his lips.

It took a little longer to pry Varian away from his conversation with the chemist, but after he had arranged to pick up his purchases later, Rapunzel latched onto his hand and towed him along. There were rows upon rows of vendors to see, after all.

Cass looked longingly at a display of weapons, arrayed on a bright red cloth, but wasn’t about to drag the party over there to indulge her passion. Rapunzel took the decision out of her hands, sailing over to the cart and smiling at the lethal pretties. Cass relaxed and fingered a foreign sword with a curve to the blade that felt light as a feather in her hand. She transferred it to her scarred hand and took a couple of swings, pleased with the way it cut smoothly through the air. “Good balance,” she commented.

The seller grinned at her. “You’d love this one in battle, Lady Hero, the curve virtually guarantees that your blade will not get stuck or pulled out of your hand, even in the most intense of fights. This is fine damascus steel, rare indeed are the artists who can forge such a beauty. It is almost worthy of your lovely style.”

“Flattery won’t convince me of how good the blade is.” Cass retorted, more than a little delighted to fall smoothly into a fighting stance when he rolled out a well used training dummy. She didn’t miss Raps and Eugene’s smiles as she neatly slashed through the battered leather in a darting, rapid-fire pattern of strikes. Angry and Catalina cheered her while Varian looked on, more than a bit impressed. 

Smiling, Cass came out of her stance and almost automatically reached to sheathe it. She smiled a bit shamefacedly and made to return it to the display. “It’s a fine blade, but not meant for the likes of me.”

Rapunzel stopped her with a frown. “If you like it, Cass, why not?” She turned back to the seller. “She’ll take it, and a proper sheath and harness for it.”

“Raps!” Cass protested. 

“I can’t have my best friend not armed with the best. If it will help you in a fight, it’s worth it.” Rapunzel glared at her mulishly.

“Speaking of worth it, let's talk price,” Eugene grinned toothily and leaned over the display, putting the sunshield on his sash on clear display, the number of rays a clear indication of his rank.

While he bartered, Cass frowned at Rapunzel. “I don’t need a new sword, Raps. Mine is fine.”

“You like this one better, and don’t think I didn’t notice how easily you held it in your— your bad hand. That alone makes it worth it.” Rapunzel returned stubbornly. “Not talking me out of it.”

Cass couldn’t help a glance down at her damaged hand, instinct making her want to hide it in a fold of her tunic. She had almost not even realized she had gone gloveless since yesterday. She flexed the fingers gingerly. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Here we are, a new fang for the Dragon Lady.” Eugene broke into her thoughts, presenting her the sword and a new sheath and shoulder harness.

She frowned at him almost automatically but he maintained the same, slightly amused smile. "C'mon, Cass. Your princess and the handsomest man in the seven kingdoms bought you a new sword. The proper response is to be grateful.”

She hesitated, then lost her chance when nimble fingers started unbuckling her sword belt. Rapunzel’s green eyes were far too close and full of that indomitable determination that had won them the fight against a demon.

“Hey!” Cass yelped, trying to bat Rapunzel’s hands away from her waist. “Raps! Eugene, get your wife off of me!”

“Why would I do that?” He grinned at her, brown eyes alight with humor. “I’m helping her, after all.”

Varian even joined in the fray, taking hold of the sword and belt that Rapunzel battled away from Cassandra, his own grin mischievous.

Lance and Rapunzel got hold of Cass, pinning her arms. She considered kicking Lance until Catalina latched onto one of her legs. Eugene moved in and efficiently buckled the harness around her torso, adjusting the straps to fit and positioning the sword where she usually wore it, for a shoulder-draw, though she had only worn her short-sword today, belted around her waist.

“And break!” Eugene said with a grin.

They all let go of a flustered Cass, laughing happily.

She glared at them, trying to regain her dignity by straightening her rumpled outfit. “That is no way to give someone a gift.”

“It is when they are being stubborn and not accepting it.” Rapunzel said, folding her arms and nodding in satisfaction.

“I didn’t need it. My old one is fine.”

“Ah-ah-ah—” Eugene held up a hand. “Not winning this one, Cass. You got the sword. Live with it.”

“Fitzherbert—”

“Please, Cass.” Rapunzel pled, catching her sleeve. “It would make me feel better if you have the new sword.”

That did it. Cass had never been proof against Rapunzel’s concern. She sighed and let her shoulders sag. “Fine. But no buying me anything else, got it?”

Rapunzel’s lower lip stuck out in a pout. “I like getting you things.”

“Fidella can only carry so much weight, Raps.”

The light in those leaf-green eyes dimmed. “— Right.”

Eugene took Rapunzel’s hand and dropped a kiss on the little wrinkle forming between her brows. “C’mon, Sunshine, there’s still more festival to explore.”

He offered his elbow to Cass with an expectant look. She scoffed lightly, but accepted the invitation. Tomorrow would be soon enough to go back to their usual banter. Today— today was for Rapunzel’s happiness, and if that took walking arm in arm with Fitzherbert, so be it.

They stopped to watch a firebreather perform, spewing out colorful flames. Rapunzel was fascinated by the unusual display and dropped several coins in his hat. When he had finished that performance and stopped to wipe his sweating face and rinse his mouth out, she peppered him with questions about how he had managed purple, blue, and green flames in addition to the usual red and yellow. He explained that it had to do with the liquids he used to create the flames and the ratios of certain salts and elements, which drew Varian in until the three were chattering animatedly.

Cass listened, but was lost quickly as the explanations went beyond salts, which she already knew from a beachside trip her father had taken her on as a child. She glanced over at Eugene, who had an expression that had to have matched her own, Affectionate tolerance for Rapunzel’s joy in something that went beyond what they understood, but would willingly listen to for hours to make her happy.

Lance had wandered a few stalls away with the girls to gawk at a juggler who seemed to be keeping far too many small, brightly-colored balls in the air all at once. Lance looked almost as fascinated as the two girls were.

Cass closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the warm spring sun on her back. A year out in the world beyond the kingdom had inured her to much harsher weather than Corona usually boasted, barring the occasional demon snowstorm. But Corona's spring was like none other. She had once joked that it was because, with Rapunzel as princess, the sun always shone with kindness on her kingdom. Perhaps it wasn't even so much of a joke as it was immutable fact.

She sighed and opened her eyes. She was making herself melancholy. Then something caught her eye and grinning, she held a finger to her lips and tugged Eugene away from Rapunzel’s conversation. She patted her money pouch, making sure she had it, and pointed at a tent a little ways away. It was bright blue and white with thick canvas walls and colorful pennants flapping in the afternoon breeze. “Betcha Raps will love this,” she told Eugene.

“Where are you taking me?”

“Trust me!” She pushed past the flap and into the cool, dimly lit interior. After the warmth of the sun, it was quite a change and Eugene shivered beside her. 

“Wonderful, the Ice Queen found a place she feels at home.”

“Stuff it, Fitzherbert.” Cass spotted the tall, older man bent over an enormous wood-sided chest. “Pietor!”

The older man looked up and his tanned face split in a wide grin. “Cassandra, my little owl! It has been too long!”

She smiled and clasped his extended hand. “It has been. You’ve been away from Corona for what— five— six years now?”

“Eh, it was an unusual time in Arendelle, owlet.” He waved a hand. “But I am here now. Have you come for a treat?”

“Of course. I could never resist your ice candy!”

Eugene shuddered a bit at the connection between Arendelle and the word 'ice'. In some ways it was one of their tamer adventures, since for once Rapunzel hadn't been in the center of the action, but rather helping the populace deal with the newly coronated queen's frozen freakout.

It had been before Cassandra had been assigned as Rapunzel's Lady-in-Waiting; Rapunzel had gone with Queen Arianna, Eugene and a handful of dignitaries for the event. It had been a lovely trip, right up until— 

Eugene really, _really_ hated the cold.

But Cass seemed delighted, so he'd give it the benefit of the doubt. Rubbing his arms against the chill, both real and remembered, he stepped up to Cass's shoulder to peer down into the giant box— which he saw now, wasn't just a box, but a massive box made of solid ice, surrounded by wood. His breath frosted in the air. "Should it be this cold in the middle of spring?"

Cass frowned over her shoulder at him.

"It is. I brought ice down from the mountains of both Arendelle and Corona to keep my treats cold for many years past." He laughed, tiny wrinkles forming around his eyes. "But the world is full of wonders and if one is a queen with magic who happens to enjoy an old man's treats, well—"

A smirk slipped across Cassandra's lips. "You sly old fox."

"Call me names at your peril, owlet. I might forget that I know you and tell you to take your patronage elsewhere."

Eugene was surprised at how easily Cass surrendered, holding both hands in the air. "I'll be good."

Pietor nodded. "Better."

Smiling, Cass waved Eugene to the side of the box. Inside the massive ice box were smaller containers, each holding what looked like nothing so much as rough cut gems, sparkling in various bright colors under a haze of frost.

"What—?"

"Ice candy. Dad used to buy me some whenever Pietor came through." Cass's smile was tinged with nostalgia. "Let's see, you like bim-berries still?" At Eugene's hesitant nod, she turned to Pietor. "Can he try a bim-berry one?"

Pietor nodded and reached into one of the smaller containers, pulling out a rough crystal the same color as a bim-berry. Cass prodded Eugene till he held out his hand to accept it. It was frigid on his palm and he eyed it uncertainly.

"Just eat it, Fitzherbert, before it melts."

He pursed his lips at her but ultimately decided to go along with it, popping the thing in his mouth. Cold hit him first, but after that the sweet taste of berry burst over his tongue, a wash of flavor and juice melting rapidly in his mouth.

He savored it for a moment as his mouth warmed back up, still tasting hints of berry-sweet on his tongue. "Wow—"

Cass was grinning. "Right? So worth it!" She turned her attention back to Pietor. "What flavors do you have this time?"

Soon they were on their way back to the group, treasures in hand. Cass had paid extra for a miniature ice chest to keep the treats cold until they were devoured, which wouldn't take long at all by Eugene's estimation. He and Cass had tried every flavor, and unable to decide, had bought some of each. He had insisted on paying part of it until a dagger pointed at his nose made him decide to accept Cass's generosity.

Rapunzel and Varian were still where they had left them, talking animatedly with the fire breather. Eugene leaned over and pressed a kiss to Rapunzel's cheek. "I don't think you even noticed we were gone, sweetheart."

Broken out of her preoccupation, Rapunzel looked up in surprise, spotting Cass carefully cradling the wooden box. "Oh, sorry, I got sidetracked. What did you find?"

"Unsurprisingly, the Ice Demon here knows where to find a cold and delightful treat so we come bearing refreshment." Eugene grinned down at her, cocking a thumb at Cassandra.

"We, Fitzherbert?" Cass arched an eyebrow.

"Hey, I offered to pay for some." He scoffed. "Then you tried to make my nose match some of those old wanted posters."

"Just trying to help."

"By attempting to maim me?"

"It worked, didn't it?" Cass smirked at him.

"Cold?" Rapunzel cut through the bickering as easily as ever.

"Trust me, Raps. You're gonna love this." Cass opened the lid, allowing a breath of chill air to escape.

Rapunzel peered into the box. "Oooh—"

Eugene picked up a bright pinkish-red crystal. "Open wide."

Rapunzel accepted the treat, her lips closing over it. They could all see the moment the flavor hit her. Her eyes widened and she sucked in a surprised breath before melting almost as much as the candy. She closed her eyes and simply stood there for a long moment, mouth slowly working.

Her eyes popped open and she let out a breathless squeak. "Those are _amazing!"_

"Told you so," Cass chuckled at Eugene

Rapunzel reached in the box and snagged two more, passing one on to Varian before popping the second in her mouth. She shivered delightedly. “You have to tell me where you got these! I’m going to keep them to make me these forever!”

Eugene chuckled. “Pretty sure he’s Arendellen, Sunshine. That would be kidnapping.”

Rapunzel planted her hands on her hips. “I will fight Elsa for him!”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa there! Please do not fight Elsa. Do you _want_ eternal winter in Corona? Because I don't!" Eugene flapped his hands at Rapunzel. “That is a thing no one wants!”

Cass blinked. “Pretty sure she’s kidding about going to war, Fitzherbert.”

“No, she would just try to actually fist-fight her since they're some sort of related on her mom’s side. And then the real Ice Queen over there— No offense, Cass— would turn this whole place into a glacier. You do remember what happens when she gets upset, right, Rapunzel?” Eugene grabbed Rapunzel’s hands. “No fighting her, Sunshine! For the sake of my currently unfrozen state, let it go!”

“Am I supposed to have the first clue what you two are on about?” Cass asked, offering a few more pieces to a wide-eyed Varian. His smile could have rivaled the sun while he accepted the candies like they were priceless. Obviously she had made another convert to ice candy.

"Eugene, I wouldn't really fist-fight her. Pillows, maybe, or even snowballs but—"

"No snowballs, Sunshine! She can literally create snow out of thin air!"

Lance and the girls had come to see what the fuss was about and Cass shared her bounty with them as Rapunzel and Eugene quibbled playfully.

Cass shrugged at Lance's questioning look. "Got me— I knew Arendelle has a queen with ice magic, but I wasn't aware Raps had met her. Or, apparently, is related to her too."

Angry blew out her cheeks in a long-suffering sigh. "Hey! How 'bout you two break it up before Catalina and I eat the rest?"

Rapunzel broke off her pouting look at Eugene and rushed the few steps to Cass's side, flinging an arm around the taller girl's neck. _"Nooo—_ Cass, don't let them eat my share!"

Cass chuckled, popping another piece into Rapunzel's mouth on the last word, effectively silencing her. "Apparently if I do, you'd declare war on another kingdom. Maybe I should introduce you to Pietor, and you can try and convince him to come work for you. Less messy than a war."

Rapunzel brightened. "Yes!"

Cass pointed down the way at his tent, sharing a chuckle with Eugene as Rapunzel took off running, bare feet slapping on the pavement.

"You've created a monster," he told her solemnly, taking another candy for himself.

"Nah, just fed it." She said, following in her princess's footsteps.


	7. Festival Competitions-Part the First

The second day of the festival dawned bright and clear, with a welcome breeze that would feel amazing later as the day warmed. Like yesterday, Cass was pounced upon by one overexcited princess, but this time she was already awake, and took the pounce as a chance to turn the tables on Rapunzel, rolling over and pinning her to the bed with a smug grin.. 

Rapunzel yelped and squirmed. “Cass—!”

Her protest was cut off by breathless laugher as Cass poked her unmercifully in the ribs. “Payback for bouncing on me yesterday, Raps!”

They tussled for a few minutes, Rapunzel’s delighted peals of laughter counterpointed by Cassandra’s quieter chuckles when the princess managed to get a tickle or two of her own in. Wrapped up in the play fight, they both jumped when the door opened. 

Eugene leaned against the door frame, brown eyes amused. “I was going to ask if you had woken her, Sunshine, but looks like that ship has sailed.”

Rapunzel untangled herself enough to sit up, still laughing and red-faced. “She’s up! Give us a minute to get her dressed, love, and we’ll meet you on the terrace for breakfast.”

Eugene nodded, still with that amused tilt to his eyebrows. “I’ll make sure to have some raw eggs for the Cobra Lady to swallow whole.”

He ducked out the door before the pillow Cass threw could smack him in his smug face.

Sighing, Cass rolled off the bed, stretching. “You can go ahead, Raps. I’ll find you two when I’m presentable.”

She turned to find Rapunzel on her feet, already rummaging in her chest of clothes. “Raps! I can dress myself!”

Rapunzel hummed, all her attention on the clothes. “I know that, Cass, but—” She held one tunic up and then rejected it, resuming her hunt. “I want you to look your best today.”

Cass sighed. “Rapunzel...”

“It’s important.” Rapunzel turned, holding up a form-fitting dark purple tunic to Cass’s shoulders. “This.”

Cass took the tunic, studying it. Both arms had gussets at the shoulders to allow for freedom of movement and the fabric was a tough, thickly woven silk that she knew from experience wouldn’t cut easily. “Planning to throw me to the wolves?”

The words died in her throat at the stricken look on Raps face. _“Hey, hey, hey,_ it was a joke— unless it wasn’t, and if it wasn’t, pardon me while I go out the nearest window!”

“No no _no!”_ Rapunzel darted forward to grab her hands. “No, I would _never._ It’s just— You— I want people to see how—” she stopped and seemed to weigh her words. “How much of a warrior you are. Most of the events of today are— well, mostly our father’s ideas— and you have _no idea_ how annoyed Eugene is to have to compete in some of them, but they are all— kinda like the Challenge of the Brave— all tests of strength and agility and marksmanship and—”

“Breathe, Raps.” Cass pulled her hands free and gripped Rapunzel’s shoulders. “Okay, I know my sense of humor needs work, but it really _was_ just a joke. And—” She paused, lower lip caught between her teeth. “Did you just say ‘our father’s ideas,’ Raps?”

Rapunzel sagged in place a little, her hands coming up to hold Cass’s forearms. “Yeah— I _happened_ to overhear a meeting between them. They were talking about events for the wedding festival and well— your dad really seemed to want to— have events that were very—” Rapunzel shrugged. “Well, didn’t seem very ‘wedding’-like. Feats of bravery and fighting skill. I think some of it was just digs at Eugene, because as the captain of the guard— well, he’s required to compete in some of them. But, Cass, honestly, I think he was hoping you would show up too. Because he knows you and knows you couldn’t resist showing up Eugene— and well, anyone else.”

Cass, staring down into those bright green eyes, felt a tickle in her chest that emerged as laughter. “Dad—” She let go of Rapunzel’s shoulders. “That sounds like him.”

Rapunzel’s smile had regained some of its brightness. “So are you going to compete?”

Cass bent and picked up the discarded tunic from the floor, shaking out the wrinkles. “Depends. Are you competing?”

 _“Pftttt—_ No, I’m the princess.” Rapunzel’s eyes skated sideways.

“Raps—”

“Okay, maybe just a little.”

“Then, no.” Cass set the tunic on the bed and turned back to Rapunzel. “I’m not competing against you. Not anymore.”

“Cass, no!” Rapunzel darted forward and wrapped her arms around Cassandra’s middle. “I don’t want to compete against you, ever again. But there are some team events—?” 

Cassandra stopped, an eyebrow climbing into her tumbled bangs. “Oh?”

“I’ve missed fighting at your side, Cass.” Rapunzel held her tighter, her nose buried in Cass’s shoulder. "Not fighting against you, but together with you. Besides, we both know who can kick who's butt from here to the Dark Kingdom."

"Rub it in, why don't you?"

"I was talking about you—" Rapunzel pulled back to see a familiar, lop-sided grin on Cass's face. "Ohh, _you—!_ Don't scare me like that!"

Cass chuckled and picked up the tunic. "If you're sure you want to be seen teamed up with me—"

"Cass—" Rapunzel planted her hands on her hips and scowled. "There is _no one_ I would rather fight beside."

"Don't let Fitzherbert hear you say that. He'll never stop whining." Cass retorted, unable to keep a smile from creeping across her face.

"He can cope."

Cassandra chuckled. "I'm telling him you said that."

"Oh, just get dressed!" Rapunzel chucked a pair of pants at Cass's head.

Still laughing, Cass snagged them out of midair and retreated behind a screen to change.

Eugene was waiting on the terrace with a sumptuous breakfast spread on the table. Cass was a bit surprised that there were only plates for the three of them. "Lance and Varian not coming?"

Eugene shrugged. "There's some science-nerd thing—"

"Eugene!"

"Varian is working on for an exhibition later and Lance's running a taste-testing thing, so just us this morning." Eugene finished, quite as if he had never been interrupted.

Cass sat on the far side of the table, leaving room for Rapunzel to scoot a chair closer to her husband, which she promptly did.

"I'm roped into the weapons exhibitions, so what do you two have on the docket while I'm being used as a target?"

"Using you as a target." Cass replied, smiling behind a slice of melon.

“Joy.” Eugene said flatly. He turned his attention to Rapunzel. “And what are you planning to do, Sunshine, while the Dragon Lady tries to pulverize me for fun and entertainment?”

“Um, the same...” Rapunzel tried to hide behind her scone.

Eugene’s eyebrow went up. “Pardon? I’m really hoping you didn’t say what I thought you just said, sweetheart.”

Rapunzel eeped softly and red crept up her cheeks. “There are some team events. I’m going to be Cass’s partner for those.”

Eugene put on a mock-hurt expression and pressed the back of one hand against his forehead. “Thrown over for someone else only two days after my wedding. Woe is me.”

“You should be used to people ditching you, Fitzherbert.”

“You wound me, Cas _san_ dra.”

“That’s for later.” Cass smirked at him over her cup.

“Ouch, Cass. Just ouch.” 

Cass chuckled. “I promised Raps not to hurt you too much before the end of the festival, so we’ll let you off light this time.”

“Thanks _ever so_ much.” Eugene directed a mock scowl at his wife. “I feel abused already and the event hasn’t even started.”

“We won’t beat on you too badly—?” Rapunzel’s hesitance almost made it sound like a question. 

Cass snorted. “Keep trying, Raps. Eventually you might be able to actually threaten him.”

“Hey—”

"I hate to admit it, Sunshine, but Cass has you dead to rights.” Eugene chuckled, reaching over to wipe a smudge of strawberry jam off of Rapunzel’s nose from her earlier attempt to hide behind her breakfast. “Of course, the jam on your nose really made an impression.”

“I can be threatening!” Rapunzel protested.

“I’m not denying that, but that's only to enemies. To me— well, no offense, Sunshine, but I feel like I'm being threatened by a cupcake. A cream-filled one; also known as— way too sweet to actually be scary."

Rapunzel actually growled at him, sounding very like an angry wolf. "I'll show you scary."

Cass chuckled. "Easy there, Raps. You made me promise not to hurt him. I think that applies to you too."

"I won't hurt him," Rapunzel narrowed her eyes. "Much."

Eugene swallowed nervously. "Sunshine..."

Cass leaned back in her chair, barely able to keep from laughing at his discomfiture. “Want some advice? Run. Run far, run fast, Fitzherbert.”

Still keeping a wary eye on his fuming wife, Eugene scowled at her. “Not helping, Cass.”

“It’s probably gonna be the best you’re gonna get in these circumstances, pretty boy. Unless you wanna end up not-so-pretty.”

“On that note, a wise Captain knows when to retire from the field of battle. I’ll leave you—”

“Don’t say it,” Cass warned.

 _“Ladies_ to plot my destruction,” Eugene finished. “Max and I have to go at least put in a showing before we’re massacred.”

“She actually likes Max, Fitzherbert.”

“Seriously, stop helping!” Eugene retreated from the terrace, wearing his wounded dignity like a cloak.

Cass waited till he was out of earshot to start laughing. “I think he just realized how threatening you can be, Raps.”

Rapunzel held out a moment longer before chuckling. “I learned that from you, after all.”

Cass tossed her head back with a renewed bark of laughter. “Then I should say you have learned well, my student.”

Rapunzel produced a folded sheet of paper from under the table and spread it on the tablecloth, scooching her chair closer to Cass. “Not to say I didn’t learn a few things from him, though. I snagged his copy of the event schedule. Ready to plan his downfall?”

“As I’ll ever be.” Cass pushed her plate to the side and leaned over the paper with Rapunzel.

As the first event didn’t start for over an hour, they finished a leisurely breakfast before heading down to the stable to saddle Fidella and a gold-coated guard horse that Rapunzel had taken to riding whenever she couldn’t ride Max. 

Fidella whinnied a greeting and was out of the stall as soon as Cass had lifted the latch, whickering and nuzzling Rapunzel, who— like Maximus— she had not seen in a year.

Rapunzel spent a good ten minutes cooing over Fidella, scratching her neck and poll until the brown-coated mare was all but limp with pleasure. Cass left them to it, examining the other mare, checking her hooves and legs before saddling her. She got a chuckle out of the mare’s name, Dawn, before turning to do the same for Fidella, only to find Rapunzel had beaten her to the punch. “You planning on riding her?”

“If you don’t mind. She’s very good at distracting Max.”

“That she is.” Cass chuckled, reaching over to scratch Fidella’s neck. “Be at your best for her today, okay, ‘Della?”

Fidella whickered and tossed her head smugly.

“I like the nickname,” Rapunzel said, pulling herself up onto Fidella’s back. “Is it new?”

“Kinda. Dad called her that while she was in training, but stopped using it by the time she was fully trained. I started again when I was trying to teach her a new move while we were traveling.”

“Ooh, a new move? Can you show me?” Rapunzel grinned down at her.

“You’d have to hang on tight, Raps. Let’s take it out of the stable, though.” Cass led Dawn out into the stableyard and tied her off to one side to give Fidella room to move.

“Hang on like your life depends on it,” she warned before whistling a command to Fidella. The mare reared and hopped forward on her hind feet, forelegs tucked under her broad chest until they reached a wood pile for the stoves that kept the stables warm in winter. Fidella brought all of her weight down on the chopping block, shattering it into nothing but splinters beneath her hooves. Almost in the same move she kicked at the air behind her, a strike that could have disabled (or worse) someone coming up behind her. She settled down with a whinney, tossing her head proudly.

Rapunzel, clinging tight to her reins, was wide-eyed. “Whoa.”

Cass shrugged. “We ran into a group of bandits. They came up on our camp, so I was dismounted, and, well— Fidella did a lot of it herself, so I just helped her make the attack more effective. We sent that crew running for their lives though.”

Rapunzel let go of her death-grip, straightened up, and stroked Fidella’s neck. “That was awesome, girl! What an amazing move! You should show it off for Max. We’ll have to pick his jaw up off the ground!”

Fidella bobbed her head with a nicker. She obviously liked the idea of showing off for Max.

Cass untied Dawn and swung easily up into the saddle. “Ready to show up the boys?”

Rapunzel put on her best fierce expression while Fidella tossed her head with a challenging whinney. “Let’s go!”

The plaza was a bustle of activity, cordoned off into sections for each event. Cass eyed the archery targets set high on the walls, mounted on pulleys so they could be moved, and an array of stationary ones, as well as a pair of youths who presided over boxes of fist-sized sandbags to be thrown into the air. She flexed her scarred hand. She could still shoot a bow with surprising accuracy, but her hand did not have the strength to keep pulling the string for long. She couldn’t last past a round or two before her hand cramped and shook too badly for accuracy. And Raps— well, she wasn’t exactly an archer. Best to give that contest a pass.

There was an agility course and she knew no one could touch the two of them on that. She nodded at where they were setting up and saw Rapunzel's face brighten before she returned the nod. Even without her hair, Rapunzel was a natural. They could sweep that competition easily. 

“Your husband is probably over there,” Cass waved at where a larger area had been roped off, filled with practice dummies and [pells](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pell) for weapons work. There was a large canvas tent set up against the rear of the cordoned off section, swarming with people. “It’s the place where he’ll be the most visible, and you know how he likes to be looked at.”

Rapunzel giggled behind a hand. “You’re probably right. We’ll let him show off for a while before we show him up. I think the thrown weapons event is about to start. You wanna show off a little?”

“I wouldn’t mind, honestly, but are you joining?” Cass asked, turning in the saddle to look at Rapunzel.

“My accuracy is nowhere near yours and besides I don’t think a frying pan is a great throwing weapon. I mean I can throw it but it’s more blunt force trauma than accuracy. But afterwards, I’d like to take Fidella over the equine agility course, if you don’t mind. I don’t think Dawn is quite as willing as Fidella is to take on some of those obstacles.”

Cass looked down at Fidella. The mare’s ears were pricked and she whinnied. “I think Fidella would enjoy that, Raps.”

“You don’t mind though?”

“No. I do enough of that out on the roads.There are a few passes that are almost worse than the one we faced traveling to the Dark Kingdom.”

“Yikes.” 

“You’re telling me.” Cass nudged Dawn toward the sign-up stand. “I don’t know if any of this is mounted yet, so will you hold Dawn for me if not?”

“Of course.” Rapunzel reined Fidella closer, and took the reins from Cass as she dismounted to approach the stand. There were already several men crowded around it and Cass joined the line behind a bruiser who could have been related to Vladimir. To say she was surprised to see Xavier manning the sign-up sheet would have been understating the case. She held herself rigid to keep from flinching. The blacksmith had been a willing teacher all her life and she had betrayed those teachings.

To her relief, his smile was mild as she picked up the quill. “Welcome back to Corona, child.”

Some of her tension eased. “Hello, Xavier. It’s good to be back.”

His gaze went past her to Rapunzel. “So I see. You have been sorely missed, and not just by the princess.”

She ducked her head. “So I’ve been reminded.” Signing her name, she set the quill down and cocked a thumb back at Rapunzel. “By said princess.”

Xavier simply raised an eyebrow. “Then, perhaps you should indeed listen.”

Cass shot a look at Rapunzel, who had a wide smile on. “Don’t say it, Raps.”

“I’m not going to say, ‘I told you so’ Cass.”

Cass groaned. “You just did.”

Xavier pointed to a stretch of canvas, “You may wait there for your turn. If you wish, she may go with you to hold your horse until the mounted division.”

They took themselves off to the shade of the canvas awning. Rapunzel dismounted and stood close to Cass. “People have missed you, not just me and your dad. Xavier asked me all the time if I’d heard from you. Pete and Stan kept asking too. And Monty. And you know how much he likes talking to me, so...” Rapunzel switched the reins to one hand and slid her other arm around Cass’s waist in a quick hug. “I could name more names but that would keep us here until well after the first round.”

“I think you overestimate even your ability to influence the people.” Cass rubbed her arm, more than a little uncomfortable under Rapunzel’s direct gaze.

“I _know_ you underestimate the extent you are loved, Cass.” Rapunzel squeezed her waist. “Maybe— maybe it didn’t feel like enough— no matter how hard you tried— to always feel lacking—” She shivered. “M— Gothel was really good at that.” Her voice changed, becoming a lilting sing-song. _“Do you know what I see? I see a strong, confident, beautiful young lady— oh, look, you’re here too.”_

Cassandra flinched. She’d only heard that voice in dreams and in magic mirrors, but the intonation was unmistakable. “Did— She really said that?” Rapunzel had— while she talked about everything, her life in the tower had been— well, not a secret, but something she had spoken very little of.

Rapunzel's eyes shuttered. “And more.”

Cass closed her eyes, letting herself lean a little against Rapunzel’s weight. “I’m sorry, Raps.”

“It’s— let's just say, it hurt us both, deeper than most people can see. But—”

Cass sighed heavily, putting her arm around Rapunzel’s shoulders and squeezing. “At least we both have someone who understands.”

Rapunzel flung her other arm around Cass’s waist and squeezed her hard enough to chase the breath from her lungs. Cass leaned into the hold gratefully. Finally though, she patted Rapunzel’s short brown hair. “C’mon, Raps, I’m gonna miss the first round at this rate.”

Rapunzel, pulled back with a laugh. “Well, we can’t have that, now can we? Go show these guys you’re the best!”

Cass chuckled softly, “Will do,”

The first round was easy. Throwing knives at stationary targets. Cass weighed the array of knives carefully in hand before choosing her four. She turned her attention to the targets and narrowed her focus, letting the sounds around her fall away as she hefted the first knife. Letting out a deep breath, she spun into action. 

_Thunk!_

_Thunk!_

_Thunk! Thunk!_

Four perfect bullseyes. She relaxed her shoulders and accepted the blades back from a runner for the next set of throws, this time with her off hand. Four more bullseyes went on her score and she retreated to let the next contestant take her place.

Rapunzel squeaked happily and hugged her again.

Two rounds later (longer daggers and hand-axes) she was one of the top four competitors remaining. Back to throwing daggers for moving targets and she knew she had that round. She’d spent too long feeding herself on the road to miss. Not when a good throw was often the balance between eating that night or going to sleep hungry. Rapunzel was bouncing on her toes when she returned to the awning and offered her a cup of water. Cass drank it gratefully as she waited for the last two to finish their throws. Finally they retired and boys ran out to rearrange the field for the mounted trials.

Taking Dawn’s reins, she mounted up, and trotted out into the arena for the next round. Dawn was steady beneath her legs and Cass was never more glad of the training the guard horses got when the mountain of a man next to her couldn’t get his half-wild gelding to settle. While he fought the rough-coated beast to a sweating stand-still, Cass assessed the field. Seven man-shaped targets at staggered distances from the line the horses were supposed to run along. Too close to or over the line meant disqualification, so one had to have iron control over both themselves and their mount. She was allowed her own throwing knives for this, and they were ones she had bought from Xavier years ago. She kept them perfectly honed and could balance them on the tip of a finger with ease.

In fact, she did so, while waiting for her turn. It gave her something to concentrate on.

It made the fellow with the unruly gelding side-eye her and she gave him her best smirk (copied from Eugene, not that she’d ever tell him that). He shuffled his horse a few more paces away, and she tossed the knife in the air and caught it, just as the announcer called her name. This time she heard whispers that had been absent when she had been just another nameless competitor. Gritting her teeth, she resolutely blocked them out and cantered Dawn to the starting line. Taking a deep breath, she shut out everything but the essentials; the mare beneath her, the line she had to keep to, the targets and the weight of her blades in her hand. She looped the reins over the pommel and guided Dawn into place with her knees. Like Fidella, she responded beautifully, and that freed Cass to use both hands.

At the whistle, she kneed Dawn into a gallop. One. Two, three. Four. 

The line curved a bit and without thinking about it, she edged the mare into the bend, flinging her fifth knife. Six. And with a flourish, she tossed two knives at the last target. She wheeled Dawn and looked back at the targets. Perfect throat-shots all but the last one, where she had put out both of the target’s painted-on eyes. She let out a breath before the roar of the crowd actually got to her. They were cheering wildly— for _her._

Grinning and red-faced, she bowed elegantly over the neck of the mare and trotted Dawn back along the line to take her daggers from the judges.

The last competitor was an anti-climax as the gelding took exception to his rider and took out the targets by crashing through them.

Shortly after, she was accepting the prize pouch and the cheers of the audience, feeling light enough to float away. It was a novel sensation, being the one they were cheering for, and it made a strange joy bubble up in her chest. Rapunzel darted up and hugged her tightly. "You were amazing, Cass!"

Swept up in the emotion, she picked Rapunzel up and twirled her around. Arms around her neck, Rapunzel giggled delightedly in her ear. It was only after she had set Rapunzel’s feet back on the ground that she realized what she’d done and released her. She’d just picked the princess up and swung her around like a child in front of a crowd. “Oops.” She patted Rapunzel’s disarrayed hair back into place sheepishly.

Rapunzel huffed and tucked one of Cass’s hand’s in her own and hefted it in the air to renewed cheers. “You don’t have to apologize for being happy, you know,” she chided softly out of the corner of her mouth.

Cass ducked her head so her bangs tumbled into her eyes. “Um— we should get a move on if you want to run Fidella through the agility course before we run out of time for anything else and have to hurry back to the main pavilion to beat up on Eugene.”

“Oh, right.” Rapunzel lowered her hand. “But we’re still running the agility course together, right?”

“Of course, there’s no one who can beat our time if we work together,” Cass reassured.

Rapunzel squeezed her hand. “That’s right.”

They mounted up and headed for the course, Fidella in high spirits and practically dancing at Dawn’s side all the way. Cass went as far as the starting post with Rapunzel before joining the audience to watch. Rapunzel was bent low over Fidella’s neck, whispering to her as they waited for the signal to start.

At the end of the course someone waved a flag indicating the course was clear and she could proceed. Fidella exploded away from the starting block, taking the first obstacle, a series of low jumps without even breaking stride. The next was a high sloped earth wall and Fidella was more than halfway up it before she lost any speed. Two powerful leaps took her over the top and down the other side, a slope churned to mud by multitudes of hooves before her. She leaned back on her haunches and slid easily down to the bottom, and splashed through the pool at the base without a missed stride.

Cass couldn’t help but be proud of how Rapunzel stuck to the saddle like a burr. While as her Lady-in-waiting, she’d taught her how to ride as befitted a princess. Then, when no one was looking, how to ride as if her life depended on it, because in her eyes, it might very well one day. Those lessons had served them well later.

The next obstacle was one of the harder ones since horse and rider had to be in sync to weave between the poles. Rapunzel did everything right, leaning her weight just so to balance Fidella in those sharp turns, letting the mare judge her own distance, and using her hands and knees to guide Fidella without distracting her. Cass had seen experienced riders and horses fail spectacularly at pole runs, so seeing Rapunzel and Fidella do it as naturally as breathing was gratifying.

Fidella turned sharply and made the jump over a hedge, and to where stone blocks had been set in a slowly ascending path, each about a foot apart. Fidella didn’t hesitate, leaping from one to the next without a stumble. She made the last leap onto a descending slope and galloped down the stone path. Two more high jumps and Fidella and Rapunzel turned into the last obstacle, a series of objects laid out on the ground that the mare had to carefully weave through without tripping or misstepping.

Fidella made it through and turned back for the straight gallop back to the starting block. Rapunzel rose up in the stirrups to touch the purple and gold sun banner that marked the end of the course. Cass cheered as wildly as the rest of the crowd, standing in her own stirrups to shout. She spotted Max on the far side of the course and the poor stallion looked like he’d been gobsmacked with a frying pan. 

She couldn’t resist a laugh. Poor fellow had forgotten Fidella was more than a match for him. Carefully reining Dawn through the crowd, she reached Rapunzel’s side and offered her a hand. When she took Cass’s hand, Cass raised it much like Rapunzel had done for her, renewing the cheers. She did look down at the keeper of the time, though. Feldspar. She winced. He wasn’t one to forgive or forget easily. Still, she tried to be polite. “How was the princess’s time, Feldspar?”

“Oh— um— yes. Princess Rapunzel's time was— um— wow. No faults and best out of any competitors so far! She’ll be the one to beat!” Feldspar only stumbled over his words a little and surprisingly, wasn’t glaring at Cass.

“Hear that, Raps? You’re the one to beat.” Cass grinned at Rapunzel.

Rapunzel’s laugh was a little breathless. “I don’t think Fidella has ever run so fast! That was— just— _wow!_ ”

Cass chuckled. “You did good. And I think Fidella wanted to show off a little. Max was in the audience.”

Fidella whickered and bobbed her head.

Cass let go of Rapunzel’s hand and gathered up her reins. “Let’s head over to the agility course— but at a walk. Fidella needs to cool down."

"Oh—" Rapunzel bent to stroke Fidella's damp shoulder. "Did I push you too hard, girl? I am so sorry."

Fidella turned to nuzzle the hand on her shoulder and nickered softly.

"She pushed herself." Cass leaned over to scratch a spot high on the brown mare's neck, earning a pleased sound from the horse. "She was showing off and she knows it. She'll be fine if we just walk."

"Right. We'll take it slow." Rapunzel smoothed a hand down Fidella's neck. "You did fabulous on the course. I don't think even Max could beat our run!"

Fidella's ears pricked and she bobbed her head enthusiastically. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So any guesses on who spent time on researching agility and obstacle courses for horses because Fidella decided she wanted to show off?
> 
> ...........yeah, that was me.
> 
> Also, this chapter decided to be really long so I had to cut it into two parts.


	8. Frying Pan Therapy

The two mares paced slowly through the crowds, giving Rapunzel time to point out this or that thing that had changed in the year Cass had been gone. It wasn’t as much as she had feared, but it still hurt to see the scars left behind. No matter that she had been under Zhan Tiri’s influence, it was still her hand that had done much of the damage.

Rapunzel’s fingers closed over her scarred ones and Cass started and looked over to see Rapunzel half hanging out of Fidella’s saddle to reach her. “Stop that,” Rapunzel chided. “I can see you thinking bad things again. I will tell you it’s not your fault over and over again until you believe it, Cass.”

Cass snorted at her and freed a foot from her stirrup to push Rapunzel back upright in her saddle. “And if I never do?”

Rapunzel paused for a minute. “Then— I think some frying pan therapy might be called for.”

“Dare I ask—?”

“You can’t fret about it if you don’t remember it?” Rapunzel hefted her frying pan with a mock threatening look.

Cass raised an eyebrow at her. “Are you threatening me, princess?”

“Ye— _es?”_

“Fitzherbert was right, you are about as dangerous as a cupcake.”

“Hey!” Rapunzel puffed her cheeks out with a huff of air and stared at Cass in a very determined pout.

“You realize the pouty face makes you even less threatening, right, Raps?” Cass smirked at her.

"Ohh—" Rapunzel's pout intensified.

“That’s really not helping your case.”

Rapunzel huffed at her. “Cass—”

Cassandra chuckled. “Sorry, Raps, but I’m not as easy to cow as your husband.”

Rapunzel seemed mollified. “I did spook him, didn’t I?”

“You did. And he’ll remember that after we show him up at the exhibition.”

Rapunzel grinned at her, but after a second a frown flitted over her face. “I don’t know how fair it is if we both team up on him.”

“Relax,” Cass said as they reached the agility course and tied the horses to a hitching post. “He can pick a partner against us. Gives him slightly better odds, at least.”

“Oh.” Rapunzel tapped a finger against her lower lip. “If I know him, he’ll pick Max.”

Cass frowned thoughtfully. “Yeah. I suppose it’s a good thing that Fidella will be there. She’s very good at keeping him distracted.”

Rapunzel giggled. “Still wouldn’t seem fair, That’s almost like three against two.”

“You wanna whale on Max with a frying pan, then?” Cass retorted with a grin. “C’mon, let’s go sign up.”

It didn’t take long to sign up, though most people were running the course as singles, not as a team. “You’ll fail if only one of you reaches the end though. And you’ll take a time penalty, if one of you reaches the end before your partner,” they were told by the fellow manning the booth.

Cass and Rapunzel shared a grin.

They took their places in a small tent not far from the starting line. Cass lingered near the open end, eyeing the course. Pretty standard from what she could see. Wooden climbing walls, logs perched over pools of muddy water, brambles to make their way through, a net to crawl under and assorted other obstacles.

She returned to Rapunzel’s side. “We’ve got this. No prob.”

Rapunzel shot her a grin and began to stretch to limber up. Cass followed her example. By the time their names were called, they were both more than ready to tackle the task ahead of them. They took their places on the starting block. At the other end of the course, a whistle blew, and they took off running. 

Cass hit the first wall and stopped, cupping her hands together. Rapunzel didn’t even break stride, stepping into the cradle of Cass’s hands and letting Cass catapult her to the top of the wall. She clung there and twisted her body up, hooking one knee over the top of the wall and leaning back down to grab Cass’s wrist, helping her scramble up the wall. The both hit the ground on the other side at the same time and headed for the logs. This time Rapunzel was the one to hit the obstacle and stop. Bracing the log with her hands and knees so it couldn’t roll, she bent so Cass could vault over her and run smoothly to the other end, where she imitated Rapunzel’s maneuver. Rapunzel was up and running almost before she had braced the log and vaulted over Cass to hit the ground running. 

Cass was right beside her, headed for the ground net. Having experience with this obstacle from guard training, Cass squirmed under the net faster and reached a point about a third of the way across. She rolled over onto her back and braced her feet against the net, shoving it upwards to allow enough freedom of movement for Rapunzel to crawl faster. Rapunzel smiled at her as she crawled past, and reached where the net started to sag back toward the ground again. Without a word, she duplicated the trick, bracing her bare feet against the net and heaving upward. 

Cass rolled over and hustled to crawl past Rapunzel to do it again, almost all the way through. Rapunzel squirmed past her and out from under the net. She rose to her feet and grabbed the edge to lift it. Instead of crawling, Cass just rolled the rest of the way out, bouncing to her feet as Rapunzel let go of the net. 

Next was the brambles, tangled vines with enough thorns to remind you to watch where you put your hands and feet. There were thin, twisting paths through, barely wide enough for a child— much less a full-grown adult. Cass halted at the edge. Rapunzel’s feet might be tough, but one misstep in that mess could lame her. She made a decision and caught Rapunzel’s arm. “Up on my shoulders,” she blurted. “I have boots on and better clothes for this. And that high up, you can direct me to the shortest path.”

“Cass—”

“No argument, we’re losing time.” Cassandra knelt and helped Rapunzel up on her shoulders, locking her arms around Rapunzel’s legs, pinning the material of her skirts against them to offer as much protection from the thorns as could be had. 

“Straight ahead.” Rapunzel’s voice was threaded with concern. “At the fork, take the left path.”

Cass pushed her way into the bramble, glad of Rapunzel’s insistence on this tunic. The thorns could not catch on the tightly woven silk, though she could feel tugs at the material on her legs, like ghostly claws scraping against her skin. She wormed her way through as fast as she dared.

“Veer right and then straight ahead,” Rapunzel told her, still with that trace of worry. Cass did her best to increase her pace. They broke into the open again and she crouched to let Rapunzel down, wincing at the sight of red scratches on Rapunzel’s bare ankles. 

Rapunzel didn’t seem concerned, only grabbing onto her arm and tugging her toward the next obstacle, a large climbing net that ended at a wooden tower. They both swarmed up it easily and reached the tower at the same time. On the opposite of the net-side, there were ropes tied to a taller beam that would swing them out over a mudpit. They backed up to the net and took a running leap, arcing out over the pit and landing safely in the pile of hay on the other side. They tumbled out of the hay, Rapunel laughing breathlessly, and bolted for the last obstacle, another climbing wall, this one made of stones. They repeated the maneuver that had gained them the first wall, though this time it was Rapunzel that boosted Cass to the top, and Cass pulling her up, 

They both slid down the dirt slope on the other side to the sound of the whistle and cheers from the audience and the other competitors. One of the competitors, a fellow who looked like he’d wound up in the mud pit, wiped his hands clean on a towel and offered them a hand up. “I’m impressed,” he offered with a toothy grin. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen better teamwork.”

Rapunzel squeaked happily and pounced on Cass the moment they were back on their feet. "That was the best!" She exhorted, glee written in every line of her.

"Not bad." Cass returned the hug with a chuckle, before pushing Rapunzel back and going to one knee. She caught one of Rapunzel's calves and lifted the foot onto her upraised knee, Rapunzel yelping and grabbing at her shoulders for balance. 

"Cass!"

"Let me see those scratches, Raps."

“I’m fine, Cass.” Rapunzel tried to pull away. 

Cass refused to let her, studying the raised red welts on her skin, feeling tension building in her shoulders and back. “I’m sorry.” she kept her head down, caught in the sight of bright red beads of blood on Rapunzel’s skin. It reminded her— of things she wished she  _ could _ forget. She had—

Rapunzel grabbed her wrists and tugged her foot free before hauling Cassandra bodily to her feet. “You have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Raps, I—”

“I mean it, Cass. You have  _ nothing _ to apologize for.” She caught Cassandra’s cheeks and forced her to meet her eyes. Those leaf-green eyes were steady and held her almost as transfixed as the blood. Cass knew she was talking about more than the scratches on her legs, but all she said was, “We went into this together to win. A few scratches is nothing. Besides I saw you wince more than once; did any of them get through your clothes?”

“I don’t think so—” Cass returned, bringing her hands up to take Rapunzel’s and tug them down. The tightness in her shoulders eased and she sighed. “We— we should go to the main pavilion now. Unless you want Eugene to think we’re going to let him off easy.”

“Never,” Rapunzel told her with a relieved smile. She squeezed Cass’s hands and tugged her off to where they had picketed the mares.

Cass let her pull her but she caught Rapunzel and boosted her onto Fidella’s back. “We’re stopping at the medical tent for some salve and bandages first.” she said, swinging up into Dawn’s saddle. “You need them to stay clean.”

“Only if you let me see if any of those thorns got you too.” Rapunzel puffed her cheeks in a stubborn look.

“I’m fine, Raps. Also I refuse to take my pants off in a tent in the middle of a festival.” She thumped her heels against Dawn’s ribs, to get the mare moving.

“Cass!” Rapunzel’s indignant call followed her. Rapunzel urged Fidella to a canter to catch up. “I need to see you aren’t hurt too.”

“I told you, I’m fine.”

“I’ll believe it when I see it, Cass! And if it takes me sitting on you and pulling your pants off to do it, I will!”

“You’d have to catch me first, Raps.”

“You don’t wanna take that dare, Cass!” 

After a visit to the medical tent (and one minor tussle), they were treated. Cass had one long gouge in her thigh where a thorn had caught in her pants and broken off in the material and some more minor scratches and both Rapunzel’s ankles looked like angry Lorbs had attacked her with tiny spears again, but they got cleaned up and bandaged before heading to the main event.

They arrived in time to see Eugene showing off a batch of guards run through maneuvers and preening in the applause. Rapunzel made a face at him and grinned at Cass. “We’ll trade opponents if we have to but I want first shot at Eugene.”

“Far be it from me to get between Fitzherbert and his just desserts.”

They had to wait for their chance though, there were other event’s first. Eugene led a demonstration of crossbow accuracy. Cass was actually impressed at how many bullseyes he made. Accuracy with a crossbow was a tricky affair, which was why she had always stuck to a longbow. She closed her scarred hand on the reins.  _ Though she might have to take up a crossbow herself. _ At least they had a crank to pull the string back.

A skirmish with pikes and glaives made her want her halberd. Though it was a bloodless demonstration, with blunted blades and capped points, she could see a dozen ways that the guards could improve. She’d have to talk to her dad and point them out. At least Eugene listened to his experience in guard matters.

Finally, Frederic stood to award prizes for other events that had run most of the morning and early afternoon. Cass was unsurprised at the wide smile that crossed his face when he declared Rapunzel the winner of the equestrian agility course. Rapunzel and Fidella trotted up to receive the prize and she leaned down from the saddle to kiss her father’s cheek. 

He awarded some other prizes and mentioned winners in other events that had been concluded, like the accuracy contest Cass had taken handily. Then he began to list winners in the timed obstacle course. First of course, were the lone runners and several of them had had really impressive times. Cass wondered if she’d have done as well if she’d done it alone. Next came some of the team times and Cass shared a grin with Rapunzel. She knew they had the best time after hearing the times of the third and second place winners. “And with a record time, Princess Rapunzel and Cassandra the Brave take first place. Ladies, come forward to receive your prizes.”

Cass knew she went a little red at being addressed in front of a crowd as “Cassandra the Brave.” Rapunzel had to poke her in the leg with her toes before she managed to urge Dawn up with Rapunzel before the King. She accepted the prize pouch and bowed first to the royals and then to the cheering crowd, her cheeks hurting from how hard she was smiling.

Rapunzel leaned sideways over Fidella’s back to hug her with one arm.

Cass laughed, returning the sideways hug. She spotted Eugene trying to sidle away and pointed her hand with the prize pouch at him. “Don’t think we’ve forgotten about you! This is an exhibition, right? Let’s see you exhibit some of the skills of the captain of the guard!” She laughed, more than half-giddy. Her declaration brought a smattering of cheers and applause from the gathered spectators.

“Right!” Rapunzel cheered, sliding down out of the saddle and yanking her frying pan from one of the saddlebags. “Let’s do this!”

Eugene heaved an exaggerated sigh and held his hands up. “Fine, fine. But it’s not very fair— two against little old me.”

“Should we get more people to fight you then?” Cass chuckled, swinging down out of the saddle.

“Oh, ha-ha.” Eugene sent her a dark scowl.

Cass handed Fidella and Dawn’s reins to Big Nose, who was standing nearby, and swept Eugene a mocking bow. “Aw, is the Captain of the guard afraid of being beaten up by two girls? Fine, we’ll be magnanimous and let you pick a partner.”

“Your kindness is overwhelming.” Eugene scowled, but waved at an attendant. “Clear the ring. We’ll start in ten.”

Cass grinned and took Rapunzel’s outstretched hand to join her at the edge of the arena. “He’s not gonna know what hit him,” Rapunzel giggled.

Cass tapped a nail on the pan dangling from Rapunzel’s other hand. “Pretty sure he’ll know it’s this!”

Rapunzel snorted, slapping ineffectively at Cass’s fingers. “You know what I mean!”

They waited while two attendants scrambled to clear everything out of the ring. By the time the ten minute mark had elapsed, they were raking the strawdust smooth. Eugene sauntered out of the tent, having traded his captain’s tunic for a leather chest plate over a heavy silk tunic much like the one Cass wore. He had buckled bracers on both wrists and had his sword slung at his hip. He stepped into the ring and saluted them with his sword.

Grinning, Cass stepped into the ring and drew her own, new blade in a return salute while Rapunzel stepped up beside her and tipped her frying pan in his direction.

“Where’s your partner?” Cass asked, grounding her blade.

“Right here.” The voice came from behind them.

Cass turned on her heel and nearly lost her grip on her sword in shock.

“Dad?”

Standing across from her in attire similar to Eugene’s, her father grinned, drawing his blade. “Hello, honey.”

He gave her no time to recover, coming at her with a high overhand strike that she had to scramble to parry. The blades clashed together with a jolt that rattled her bones and she gritted her teeth. It took everything she had to hold against the strike. He had always been so much stronger than her. Her rear foot slid back in the sawdust and she let it, using the motion to spin away from his blade. 

Across the ring, Eugene laughed gleefully. “What? Thought I was gonna pick Max, Dragon Lady?”

Cass didn’t dare take her eyes off her father long enough to shoot him the dirty look she really wanted to, but the clang of metal on metal and the yelp Eugene let out told her Rapunzel had joined the fray.

Cass spun quickly to avoid another strike, this one a lightning quick jab and then had to bring her blade up to catch the next slash before she had even finished moving. She pivoted and her blade slid out from under his. She moved back to give herself room for one of her darting slashes. He gave her no chance, staying close and forcing her to duck and twist to avoid his strikes.

She caught his blade on hers and looked up into his face. He was grinning wildly and his eyes sparkled with enjoyment. “C’mon, Cass. Show me what you got!”

A feral joy sparked in her heart.  _ He wanted to see what she could do, eh? _ “You asked for it, Dad!”

She disengaged her blade from his and backed up two careful steps. She flashed him a fey grin. “If you can keep up!” She bulled for him, ducking past his blade and then was past him, smacking the flat of her sword on his rear. He yelped indignantly and whirled after her. This time she was ready. He was stronger, but she was faster. Time to play to her strengths. 

She spun away from his next attack, her sword lowered. He tried to engage her blade, but she wouldn’t let him force her hand. “Faster than that, Dad!” She danced sideways, and knocked the tip of his blade up, darting back before he could rally. She used the temporary respite to put Eugene and Rapunzel between them, giving her a second to plan her next move while he tried to keep her in sight.

Cass came in low and fast, ducking under a swing of Rapunzel’s pan. Her sword lashed out and tagged a score on his leather breastplate, leaving behind a clear record of her hit. She kept moving, spinning away as fast as her feet would carry her. She needed to keep him from closing with her, because if he did, he could keep her pinned and unable to gain enough room to go on the attack.

He knew that too, and came after her. She darted away again, past where Eugene was having his dignity handed to him by his wife and a frying pan. Near the edge of the ring, there were some crates, no doubt holding the items the attendants had cleared, but all she cared about was that they were still in the bounds of the ring and in two deer-like leaps she was up on top of them. 

Cass grinned down at her father and propelled herself into a rolling leap over his head. She switched her sword to her damaged hand in midair, the blade slicing dangerously close to his mustache, as she used her good hand to springboard off of his broad shoulder. She landed several paces away, laughing breathlessly. This was the most fun she’d had in ages!

“Gotta do better than that, Dad!” She taunted with a laugh.

His grin was as wide as hers as he turned to face her, and he backed up a pace and moved into a guard position, his sword held at an angle across his body. She knew what he was doing. He was trying to lure her in, let her wear herself out in a series of attacks. She wasn’t going to let him.

She fell back herself, matching his stance. “Thought you wanted to see what I had?” she teased, grinning. “Not gonna see much over there.”

“Clever girl.” Her father’s grin was delighted. He shifted position and she could see his eyes flicking over her stance, looking for a weak spot to exploit. Always alert, always analyzing— 

Cass shifted her weight to her forward foot, lifting the heel of her other foot. His eyes zeroed in on the movement.  _ Ah-ha— _

Lightning quick, Cass spun away on her heel even as he moved to block what he was sure would be a forward lunge. Her blade licked out and knocked the tip of his up again and she felt hers catch cloth before she was gone, circling him as fast as her feet would carry her. 

He turned to follow her, gaze calculating. She’d tagged him twice, and thrice if she counted the swat on his rear. He wasn’t going to give her another inch.

She was right, he anticipated her next strike and countered it. The clash of the blades stung her bad hand and she realized she had never switched it back to her good one. Clenching her teeth, she danced back a pace, and returned her blade to the other hand, shaking the sting out of her fingers. If she was going to use her sword in what was now her off hand, she’d have to work harder at it.

While she was distracted, he got in a hit, his blade slicing within a hair's breadth of her neck, and a lock of hair that had escaped her ribbon drifted to the sawdust. The ribbon followed it, sliced neatly in half.

She wasn’t going to let him see that the move had rattled her though, so she grinned at him. “Thanks. I’ve been meaning to get a trim since I got back.”

She smoothly slid back into her circling pattern, moving ceaselessly. One of them was going to make a mistake and if she wasn’t careful it would be her. 

Absently, she noted that Eugene and Rapunzel had ceased their fight, both watching her and her father circle each other like wary cats.

If they wanted her to be the center of attention, she could do that. She had learned a lot of different things in her time away. Time to show off some of them. 

She sped her cycling steps, feet moving into a pattern almost like that of the great circle dances she had spun through at the reception, but just different enough that it couldn’t be predicted if someone didn’t already know the paces. Having seen these patterns from the outside, she knew she looked like she was dancing around her opponent, and in a way it wasn’t an incorrect assumption. Her father was trying to keep track of her crisscrossing, spinning steps and it was making his own pace falter because he could not match her.

Cass tightened the circle, staying just out of easy sword reach, counting her paces and watching her father’s eyes. The timing of this dance hung on him, each pace measuring a beat until opportunity was found. She didn’t even consciously note the falter; the misstep, only seeing the flicker of his eyes. She was moving before thinking, A pace and a slash, scoring a new line on his armor and then back into the steps of the sword dance.

Her father’s fingers brushed at the score in the leather and his eyes filled with approval. “Nicely done.”

The praise gave lift to her feet and she spun into a new attack, darting jabs that he could only block some of before retreating into the measured pace of her dance. In and out, faster than a needle through fabric, she danced. His strikes missed more often than they hit and she had the advantage. She lunged in, letting him counter and force her blade up. She swept her leg, connecting firmly with his ankles.

Her father went down with a startled ‘whoof’ and she whipped her blade down to rest the tip against the curve of his throat. “Yield.” Her voice was surprisingly steady for the adrenaline fizzing through her blood.

His sword thumped dully against the sawdust as he let it fall from his fingers. “I yield.”

Her blood was still tingling in her veins like fireworks when she heard Rapunzel shout “Truce over!’ and the thunk of the frying pan hitting flesh.

Cass whirled, still ready to fight, and saw Rapunzel standing over Eugene, sprawled in the sawdust, his sword lying between her spread feet. Her green eyes were wide in a way that said she had not actually expected that to work.

Eugene groaned, one hand coming up to cover the red mark over the left side of his face. “Dammit, Sunshine! That was a dirty trick.”

Rapunzel let her pan dangle loosely from her fingers. Cass could see her poised for an apology until she looked up and met her eyes across the arena. 

Her mouth firmed. “I learned from the best.” Rapunzel brought the pan around to point it at his chin. “Do you yield or do I finish this?” Her voice hardly trembled at all, Cass was proud to note.

“I surrender.” Eugene raised empty hands. “You two are a force to be reckoned with.” 

He touched the side of his face again and winced. “Ow.” But seeing the stricken look in Rapunzel’s eyes, he softened it with a smile and offered her his hand. “Don’t leave me hanging here, sweetheart.” 

Rapunel eeped and her pan hit the ground as she tugged her husband to his feet. He kept her hand and raised it over her head. His self-deprecating smile was turned on the crowd. “And we have our winners!”

The crowd roared and Cass turned to offer her father the same grace, switching her blade to her off hand and offering her good one to him. He accepted and stood, yanking her into a bone-crushing hug. “I am so proud of you, honey,” he rumbled into her hair and Cass felt all of her muscles turn to jelly. 

She sagged into his hold.  _ “Daddy—” _ Her heart thundered like it might beat out of her chest. He pressed a loving kiss to her forehead and turned her to face the cheering crowd. He mirrored Eugene and Rapunzel’s pose, hoisting her hand into the air.

The ground under her feet all but shook with the renewed cheers and then the delighted audience trampled into the ring.

Rapunzel was bouncing as the crowd closed around them with cheers and congratulations. She darted over to throw an arm around Cass, laughing in delight. Cass stayed quiet in her hold though she did return the fierce embrace. 

She didn't want to draw more attention to herself. Now that the fire was out of her blood, she was feeling dizzy with exertion. Some impression she’d make going down on her face the first time someone slapped her on the back. Rapunzel was reveling in the attention, drawing people to her like bees to flowers.

So it was a surprise when she felt a timid tug on the hem of her tunic. She looked down into a bright pair of hazel eyes, half hidden behind a fringe of unruly brown curls. The little girl had a smaller boy clinging to her patched trews and a wooden sword belted over her leather apron. "Are— are you really the lady hero? Papa took us to see your fountain at the palace before."

"Oh— um, well—"

A hand fell on her shoulder. Eugene's eye was definitely going to be one heck of a shiner, but his grin was roguish. "Yep. This is Cassandra the Brave in the flesh, kids."

The little girl beamed and turned her attention to the boy clinging to her. "I told you she was real, Lars! That means we can both be heroes! We'll be the best brother and sister heroes in all seven kingdoms!"

Cass didn’t resist Eugene’s arm around her shoulders, steering her back into the thick of the celebrating crowd. Her smile grew wider with every second.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not a sword fighter, so take the battle with a grain of salt.


End file.
